Electronic Version of A COURSE IN MIRACLES(tm) WORKBOOK FOR STUDENTS

INTRODUCTION

W-in.1. A theoretical foundation such as the text provides is necessary as a framework

to make the exercises in this workbook meaningful. 2 Yet it is doing the exercises that

will make the goal of the course possible. 3 An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. 4 It

is the purpose of this workbook to train your mind to think along the lines the text

sets forth.

W-in.2. The exercises are very simple. 2 They do not require a great deal of time, and

it does not matter where you do them. 3 They need no preparation. 4 The training period

is one year. 5 The exercises are numbered from 1 to 365. 6 Do not undertake to do more

than one set of exercises a day.

W-in.3. 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. 2 With

the exception of the review periods, each day's exercises are planned around one

central idea, which is stated first. 3 This is followed by a description of the specific

procedures by which the idea for the day is to be applied.

W-in.4. 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. 2 The exercises are planned to

help you generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is equally

applicable to everyone and everything you see.

W-in.5. Transfer of training in true perception does not proceed as does transfer of

the training of the world. 2 If true perception has been achieved in connection with any

person, situation or event, total transfer to everyone and everything is certain. 3 On the

other hand, one exception held apart from true perception makes its accomplishments anywhere

impossible.

W-in.6. The only general rules to be observed throughout, then, are: First, that the

exercises be practiced with great specificity, as will be indicated. 2 This will help you to

generalize the ideas involved to every situation in which you find yourself, and to everyone and

everything in it. 3 Second, be sure that you do not decide for yourself that there are some

people, situations or things to which the ideas are inapplicable. 4 This will interfere with

transfer of training. 5 The very nature of true perception is that it has no limits. 6 It is

the opposite of the way you see now.

W-in.7. The overall aim of the exercises is to increase your ability to extend the

ideas you will be practicing to include everything. 2 This will require no effort on your

part. 3 The exercises themselves meet the conditions necessary for this kind of transfer.

W-in.8. Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and

others may seem to be quite startling. 2 This does not matter. 3 You are merely asked to

apply the ideas as you are directed to do. 4 You are not asked to judge them at all. 5 You

are asked only to use them. 6 It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will

show you that they are true.

W-in.9. Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them,

and you need not even welcome them. 2 Some of them you may actively resist. 3 None of this

will matter, or decrease their efficacy. 4 But 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. 5 Nothing more than that is required.

PART I

LESSON 1.

Nothing I see in this room [on this street,

from this window, in this place] means anything.

W-pI.1.1. Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically

to whatever you see:

2 This table does not mean anything.

3 This chair does not mean anything.

4 This hand does not mean anything.

5 This foot does not mean anything.

6 This pen does not mean anything.

W-pI.1.2. Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a

wider range:

2 That door does not mean anything.

3 That body does not mean anything.

4 That lamp does not mean anything.

5 That sign does not mean anything.

6 That shadow does not mean anything.

W-pI.1.3. Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no

allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. 2 That is the

purpose of the exercise. 3 The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. 4 As

you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. 5 Do not attempt to

apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. 6 Only be

sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. 7 One thing is like another as far

as the application of the idea is concerned.

W-pI.1.4. Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each,

preferably morning and evening. 2 Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute

or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. 3 A comfortable sense of leisure is

essential.

LESSON 2.

I have given everything I see in this room

[on this street, from this window, in this place]

all the meaning that it has for me.

W-pI.2.1. The exercises with this idea are the same as those for the first one. 2 Begin

with the things that are near you, and apply the idea to whatever your glance rests on.

3 Then increase the range outward. 4 Turn your head so that you include whatever is on

either side. 5 If possible, turn around and apply the idea to what was behind you. 6 Remain

as indiscriminate as possible in selecting subjects for its application, do not

concentrate on anything in particular, and do not attempt to include everything you see in a given

area, or you will introduce strain.

W-pI.2.2. Merely glance easily and fairly quickly around you, trying to avoid selection

by size, brightness, color, material, or relative importance to you. 2 Take the

subjects simply as you see them. 3 Try to apply the exercise with equal ease to a body or a

button, a fly or a floor, an arm or an apple. 4 The sole criterion for applying the idea to

anything is merely that your eyes have lighted on it. 5 Make no attempt to include anything

particular, but be sure that nothing is specifically excluded.

LESSON 3.

I do not understand anything I see in this room

[on this street, from this window, in this place].

W-pI.3.1. Apply this idea in the same way as the previous ones, without making

distinctions of any kind. 2 Whatever you see becomes a proper subject for applying the idea. 3 Be

sure that you do not question the suitability of anything for application of the idea. 4

These are not exercises in judgment. 5 Anything is suitable if you see it. 6 Some of the

things you see may have emotionally charged meaning for you. 7 Try to lay such feelings aside,

and merely use these things exactly as you would anything else.

W-pI.3.2. The point of the exercises is to help you clear your mind of all past

associations, to see things exactly as they appear to you now, and to realize how little you really

understand about them. 2 It is therefore essential that you keep a perfectly open mind,

unhampered by judgment, in selecting the things to which the idea for the day is to be

applied. 3 For this purpose one thing is like another; equally suitable and therefore equally

useful.

LESSON 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].

W-pI.4.1. Unlike the preceding ones, these exercises do not begin with the idea for the

day. 2 In these practice periods, begin with noting the thoughts that are crossing your

mind for about a minute. 3 Then apply the idea to them. 4 If you are already aware of

unhappy thoughts, use them as subjects for the idea. 5 Do not, however, select only the

thoughts you think are "bad." 6 You will find, if you train yourself to look at your thoughts,

that they represent such a mixture that, in a sense, none of them can be called "good" or "

bad." 7 This is why they do not mean anything.

W-pI.4.2. In selecting the subjects for the application of today's idea, the usual

specificity is required. 2 Do not be afraid to use "good" thoughts as well as "bad." 3 None of

them represents your real thoughts, which are being covered up by them. 4 The "good" ones

are but shadows of what lies beyond, and shadows make sight difficult. 5 The "bad" ones

are blocks to sight, and make seeing impossible. 6 You do not want either.

W-pI.4.3. This is a major exercise, and will be repeated from time to time in somewhat

different form. 2 The aim here is to train you in the first steps toward the goal of separating

the meaningless from the meaningful. 3 It is a first attempt in the long-range purpose of

learning to see the meaningless as outside you, and the meaningful within. 4 It is also the

beginning of training your mind to recognize what is the same and what is different.

W-pI.4.4. In using your thoughts for application of the idea for today, identify each

thought by the central figure or event it contains; for example:

2 This thought about___does not mean anything.

3 It is like the things I see in this room [on this street, and so on].

W-pI.4.5. You can also use the idea for a particular thought that you recognize as

harmful. 2 This practice is useful, but is not a substitute for the more random procedures to

be followed for the exercises. 3 Do not, however, examine your mind for more than a

minute or so. 4 You are too inexperienced as yet to avoid a tendency to become pointlessly

preoccupied.

W-pI.4.6. Further, since these exercises are the first of their kind, you may find the

suspension of judgment in connection with thoughts particularly difficult. 2 Do not repeat these

exercises more than three or four times during the day. 3 We will return to them later.

LESSON 5.

I am never upset for the reason I think.

W-pI.5.1. This idea, like the preceding one, can be used with any person, situation or

event you think is causing you pain. 2 Apply it specifically to whatever you believe is the

cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to

you. 3 The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred,

jealousy or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different. 4 This is not

true. 5 However, until you learn that form does not matter, each form becomes a proper

subject for the exercises for the day. 6 Applying the same idea to each of them separately is

the first step in ultimately recognizing they are all the same.

W-pI.5.2. When using the idea for today for a specific perceived cause of an upset in

any form, use both the name of the form in which you see the upset, and the cause which

you ascribe to it. 2 For example:

3 I am not angry at___for the reason I think.

4 I am not afraid of___for the reason I think.

W-pI.5.3. But again, this should not be substituted for practice periods in which you

first search your mind for "sources" of upset in which you believe, and forms of upset which

you think result.

W-pI.5.4. In these exercises, more than in the preceding ones, you may find it hard to

be indiscriminate, and to avoid giving greater weight to some subjects than to others. 2

It might help to precede the exercises with the statement:

3 There are no small upsets. 4 They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.

W-pI.5.5. Then examine your mind for whatever is distressing you, regardless of how

much or how little you think it is doing so.

W-pI.5.6. You may also find yourself less willing to apply today's idea to some

perceived sources of upset than to others. 2 If this occurs, think first of this:

3 I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. 4 For the purposes of these

exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same.

W-pI.5.7. Then search your mind for no more than a minute or so, and try to identify a

number of different forms of upset that are disturbing you, regardless of the relative

importance you may give them. 2 Apply the idea for today to each of them, using the name of both

the source of the upset as you perceive it, and of the feeling as you experience it. 3

Further examples are:

4 I am not worried about___for the reason I think.

5 I am not depressed about___for the reason I think.

6 Three or four times during the day is enough.

LESSON 6.

I am upset because I see something that is not there.

W-pI.6.1. The exercises with this idea are very similar to the preceding ones. 2 Again,

it is necessary to name both the form of upset (anger, fear, worry, depression and so

on) and the perceived source very specifically for any application of the idea. 3 For

example:

4 I am angry at___because I see something that is not there.

5 I am worried about___because I see something that is not there.

W-pI.6.2. Today's idea is useful for application to anything that seems to upset you,

and can profitably be used throughout the day for that purpose. 2 However, the three or

four practice periods which are required should be preceded by a minute or so of mind

searching, as before, and the application of the idea to each upsetting thought uncovered in the

search.

W-pI.6.3. Again, if you resist applying the idea to some upsetting thoughts more than

to others, remind yourself of the two cautions stated in the previous lesson:

2 There are no small upsets. 3 They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.

4 And:

5 I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. 6 For the purposes of these

exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same.

LESSON 7.

I see only the past.

W-pI.7.1. This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first. 2 Yet it is the

rationale for all of the preceding ones.

3 It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything.

4 It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has

for you.

5 It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see.

6 It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean anything, and why they are like the

things you see.

7 It is the reason why you are never upset for the reason you think.

8 It is the reason why you are upset because you see something that is not there.

W-pI.7.2. Old ideas about time are very difficult to change, because everything you

believe is rooted in time, and depends on your not learning these new ideas about it. 2 Yet

that is precisely why you need new ideas about time. 3 This first time idea is not really

so strange as it may sound at first.

W-pI.7.3. Look at a cup, for example. 2 Do you see a cup, or are you merely reviewing

your past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, feeling the

rim of a cup against your lips, having breakfast and so on? 3 Are not your aesthetic

reactions to the cup, too, based on past experiences? 4 How else would you know whether or not

this kind of cup will break if you drop it? 5 What do you know about this cup except what

you learned in the past? 6 You would have no idea what this cup is, except for your past

learning. 7 Do you, then, really see it?

W-pI.7.4. Look about you. 2 This is equally true of whatever you look at. 3 Acknowledge

this by applying the idea for today indiscriminately to whatever catches your eye. 4

For example:

5 I see only the past in this pencil.

6 I see only the past in this shoe.

7 I see only the past in this hand.

8 I see only the past in that body.

9 I see only the past in that face.

W-pI.7.5. Do not linger over any one thing in particular, but remember to omit nothing

specifically. 2 Glance briefly at each subject, and then move on to the next. 3 Three or four

practice periods, each to last a minute or so, will be enough.

LESSON 8.

My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

W-pI.8.1. This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past. 2 No one

really sees anything. 3 He sees only his thoughts projected outward. 4 The mind's

preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing

suffers. 5 Your mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is. 6 It therefore

cannot understand time, and cannot, in fact, understand anything.

W-pI.8.2. The one wholly true thought one can hold about the past is that it is not

here. 2 To think about it at all is therefore to think about illusions. 3 Very few have

realized what is actually entailed in picturing the past or in anticipating the future. 4 The

mind is actually blank when it does this, because it is not really thinking about anything.

W-pI.8.3. The purpose of the exercises for today is to begin to train your mind to

recognize when it is not really thinking at all. 2 While thoughtless ideas preoccupy your mind,

the truth is blocked. 3 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.

W-pI.8.4. The exercises for today should be done with eyes closed. 2 This is because

you actually cannot see anything, and it is easier to recognize that no matter how vividly

you may picture a thought, you are not seeing anything. 3 With as little investment as

possible, search your mind for the usual minute or so, merely noting the thoughts you find

there. 4 Name each one by the central figure or theme it contains, and pass on to the next.

5 Introduce the practice period by saying:

6 I seem to be thinking about ___.

W-pI.8.5. Then name each of your thoughts specifically, for example:

2 I seem to be thinking about [name of a person], about [name of an object], about [

name of an emotion],

and so on, concluding at the end of the mind-searching period with:

3 But my mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

W-pI.8.6. This can be done four or five times during the day, unless you find it

irritates you. 2 If you find it trying, three or four times is sufficient. 3 You might find it

helpful, however, to include your irritation, or any emotion that the idea for today may

induce, in the mind searching itself.

LESSON 9.

I see nothing as it is now.

W-pI.9.1. This idea obviously follows from the two preceding ones. 2 But while you may

be able to accept it intellectually, it is unlikely that it will mean anything to you as

yet. 3 However, understanding is not necessary at this point. 4 In fact, the recognition

that you do not understand is a prerequisite for undoing your false ideas. 5 These

exercises are concerned with practice, not with understanding. 6 You do not need to practice

what you already understand. 7 It would indeed be circular to aim at understanding, and

assume that you have it already.

W-pI.9.2. It is difficult for the untrained mind to believe that what it seems to

picture is not there. 2 This idea can be quite disturbing, and may meet with active resistance

in any number of forms. 3 Yet that does not preclude applying it. 4 No more than that

is required for these or any other exercises. 5 Each small step will clear a little of

the darkness away, and understanding will finally come to lighten every corner of the mind

that has been cleared of the debris that darkens it.

W-pI.9.3. These exercises, for which three or four practice periods are sufficient,

involve looking about you and applying the idea for the day to whatever you see, remembering

the need for its indiscriminate application, and the essential rule of excluding nothing.

2 For example:

3 I do not see this typewriter as it is now.

4 I do not see this telephone as it is now.

5 I do not see this arm as it is now.

W-pI.9.4. Begin with things that are nearest you, and then extend the range outward:

2 I do not see that coat rack as it is now.

3 I do not see that door as it is now.

4 I do not see that face as it is now.

W-pI.9.5. It is emphasized again that while complete inclusion should not be attempted,

specific exclusion must be avoided. 2 Be sure you are honest with yourself in making

this distinction. 3 You may be tempted to obscure it.

LESSON 10.

My thoughts do not mean anything.

W-pI.10.1. This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become

aware in the practice periods. 2 The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that

they are not your real thoughts. 3 We have made this distinction before, and will do so

again. 4 You have no basis for comparison as yet. 5 When you do, you will have no doubt that

what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything.

W-pI.10.2. This is the second time we have used this kind of idea. 2 The form is only

slightly different. 3 This time the idea is introduced with "My thoughts" instead of "These

thoughts," and no link is made overtly with the things around you. 4 The emphasis is now on the

lack of reality of what you think you think.

W-pI.10.3. This aspect of the correction process began with the idea that the thoughts

of which you are aware are meaningless, outside rather than within; and then stressed

their past rather than their present status. 2 Now we are emphasizing that the presence of

these "thoughts" means that you are not thinking. 3 This is merely another way of repeating

our earlier statement that your mind is really a blank. 4 To recognize this is to

recognize nothingness when you think you see it. 5 As such, it is the prerequisite for vision.

W-pI.10.4. Close your eyes for these exercises, and introduce them by repeating the

idea for today quite slowly to yourself. 2 Then add:

3 This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

4 The exercises consist, as before, in searching your mind for all the thoughts that

are available to you, without selection or judgment. 5 Try to avoid classification of any

kind. 6 In fact, if you find it helpful to do so, you might imagine that you are watching

an oddly assorted procession going by, which has little if any personal meaning to you. 7

As each one crosses your mind, say:

8 My thought about___does not mean anything.

9 My thought about___does not mean anything.

W-pI.10.5. Today's thought can obviously serve for any thought that distresses you at

any time. 2 In addition, five practice periods are recommended, each involving no more

than a minute or so of mind searching. 3 It is not recommended that this time period be

extended, and it should be reduced to half a minute or less if you experience discomfort. 4

Remember, however, to repeat the idea slowly before applying it specifically, and also to add:

5 This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

LESSON 11.

My meaningless thoughts are showing me a

meaningless world.

W-pI.11.1. This is the first idea we have had that is related to a major phase of the

correction process; the reversal of the thinking of the world. 2 It seems as if the world

determines what you perceive. 3 Today's idea introduces the concept that your thoughts determine

the world you see. 4 Be glad indeed to practice the idea in its initial form, for in this

idea is your release made sure. 5 The key to forgiveness lies in it.

W-pI.11.2. The practice periods for today's idea are to be undertaken somewhat

differently from the previous ones. 2 Begin with your eyes closed, and repeat the idea slowly to

yourself. 3 Then open your eyes and look about, near and far, up and down,--anywhere. 4 During

the minute or so to be spent in using the idea merely repeat it to yourself, being sure to

do so without haste, and with no sense of urgency or effort.

W-pI.11.3. To do these exercises for maximum benefit, the eyes should move from one

thing to another fairly rapidly, since they should not linger on anything in particular. 2

The words, however, should be used in an unhurried, even leisurely fashion. 3 The

introduction to this idea, in particular, should be practiced as casually as possible. 4 It

contains the foundation for the peace, relaxation and freedom from worry that we are trying to

achieve. 5 On concluding the exercises, close your eyes and repeat the idea once more slowly

to yourself.

W-pI.11.4. Three practice periods today will probably be sufficient. 2 However, if

there is little or no uneasiness and an inclination to do more, as many as five may be

undertaken. 3 More than this is not recommended.

LESSON 12.

I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

W-pI.12.1. The importance of this idea lies in the fact that it contains a correction

for a major perceptual distortion. 2 You think that what upsets you is a frightening world,

or a sad world, or a violent world, or an insane world. 3 All these attributes are

given it by you. 4 The world is meaningless in itself.

W-pI.12.2. These exercises are done with eyes open. 2 Look around you, this time quite

slowly. 3 Try to pace yourself so that the slow shifting of your glance from one thing to

another involves a fairly constant time interval. 4 Do not allow the time of the shift to

become markedly longer or shorter, but try, instead, to keep a measured, even tempo

throughout. 5 What you see does not matter. 6 You teach yourself this as you give whatever your

glance rests on equal attention and equal time. 7 This is a beginning step in learning to

give them all equal value.

W-pI.12.3. As you look about you, say to yourself:

2 I think I see a fearful world, a dangerous world, a hostile world, a sad world, a

wicked world, a crazy world,

and so on, using whatever descriptive terms happen to occur to you. 3 If terms which

seem positive rather than negative occur to you, include them. 4 For example, you might

think of "a good world," or "a satisfying world." 5 If such terms occur to you, use them

along with the rest. 6 You may not yet understand why these "nice" adjectives belong in

these exercises but remember that a "good world" implies a "bad" one, and a "satisfying

world" implies an "unsatisfying" one. 7 All terms which cross your mind are suitable

subjects for today's exercises. 8 Their seeming quality does not matter.

W-pI.12.4. Be sure that you do not alter the time intervals between applying today's

idea to what you think is pleasant and what you think is unpleasant. 2 For the purposes of

these exercises, there is no difference between them. 3 At the end of the practice period,

add:

4 But I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

W-pI.12.5. What is meaningless is neither good nor bad. 2 Why, then, should a

meaningless world upset you? 3 If you could accept the world as meaningless and let the truth be

written upon it for you, it would make you indescribably happy. 4 But because it is

meaningless, you are impelled to write upon it what you would have it be. 5 It is this you see in

it. 6 It is this that is meaningless in truth. 7 Beneath your words is written the Word

of God. 8 The truth upsets you now, but when your words have been erased, you will see

His. 9 That is the ultimate purpose of these exercises.

W-pI.12.6. Three or four times is enough for practicing the idea for today. 2 Nor

should the practice periods exceed a minute. 3 You may find even this too long. 4 Terminate

the exercises whenever you experience a sense of strain.

LESSON 13.

A meaningless world engenders fear.

W-pI.13.1. Today's idea is really another form of the preceding one, except that it is

more specific as to the emotion aroused. 2 Actually, a meaningless world is impossible. 3

Nothing without meaning exists. 4 However, it does not follow that you will not think you

perceive something that has no meaning. 5 On the contrary, you will be particularly likely to

think you do perceive it.

W-pI.13.2. Recognition of meaninglessness arouses intense anxiety in all the separated

ones. 2 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 that meaninglessness provides. 3 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. 4 And on this alone it is correct.

W-pI.13.3. It is essential, therefore, that you learn to recognize the meaningless, and

accept it without fear. 2 If you are fearful, it is certain that you will endow the

world with attributes that it does not possess, and crowd it with images that do not exist.

3 To the ego illusions are safety devices, as they must also be to you who equate

yourself with the ego.

W-pI.13.4. The exercises for today, which should be done about three or four times for

not more than a minute or so at most each time, are to be practiced in a somewhat

different way from the preceding ones. 2 With eyes closed, repeat today's idea to yourself. 3

Then open your eyes, and look about you slowly, saying:

4 I am looking at a meaningless world.

5 Repeat this statement to yourself as you look about. 6 Then close your eyes, and

conclude with:

7 A meaningless world engenders fear because I think I am in competition with God.

W-pI.13.5. You may find it difficult to avoid resistance, in one form or another, to

this concluding statement. 2 Whatever form such resistance may take, remind yourself that

you are really afraid of such a thought because of the "vengeance" of the "enemy." 3 You

are not expected to believe the statement at this point, and will probably dismiss it as

preposterous. 4 Note carefully, however, any signs of overt or covert fear which it may arouse.

W-pI.13.6. This is our first attempt at stating an explicit cause and effect

relationship of a kind which you are very inexperienced in recognizing. 2 Do not dwell on the

concluding statement, and try not even to think of it except during the practice periods. 3 That

will suffice at present.

LESSON 14.

God did not create a meaningless world.

W-pI.14.1. The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is

impossible. 2 What God did not create does not exist. 3 And everything that does exist exists as

He created it. 4 The world you see has nothing to do with reality. 5 It is of your own

making, and it does not exist.

W-pI.14.2. The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout. 2

The mind-searching period should be short, a minute at most. 3 Do not have more than three

practice periods with today's idea unless you find them comfortable. 4 If you do, it

will be because you really understand what they are for.

W-pI.14.3. The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts that

you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place. 2 The early steps

in this exchange, which can truly be called salvation, can be quite difficult and even

quite painful. 3 Some of them will lead you directly into fear. 4 You will not be left there.

5 You will go far beyond it. 6 Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect

peace.

W-pI.14.4. With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind.

2 Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its reality. 3 God did not create

it, and so it is not real. 4 Say, for example:

5 God did not create that war, and so it is not real.

6 God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real.

7 God did not create that disaster [specify], and so it is not real.

W-pI.14.5. Suitable subjects for the application of today's idea also include anything

you are afraid might happen to you, or to anyone about whom you are concerned. 2 In each

case, name the "disaster" quite specifically. 3 Do not use general terms. 4 For example, do

not say, "God did not create illness," but, "God did not create cancer," or heart

attacks, or whatever may arouse fear in you.

W-pI.14.6. This is your personal repertory of horrors at which you are looking. 2 These

things are part of the world you see. 3 Some of them are shared illusions, and others

are part of your personal hell. 4 It does not matter. 5 What God did not create can only

be in your own mind apart from His. 6 Therefore, it has no meaning. 7 In recognition of

this fact, conclude the practice periods by repeating today's idea:

8 God did not create a meaningless world.

W-pI.14.7. The idea for today can, of course, be applied to anything that disturbs you

during the day, aside from the practice periods. 2 Be very specific in applying it. 3 Say:

4 God did not create a meaningless world. 5 He did not create [specify the situation

which is disturbing you], and so it is not real.

LESSON 15.

My thoughts are images that I have made.

W-pI.15.1. It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do

not recognize them as nothing. 2 You think you think them, and so you think you see them.

3 This is how your "seeing" was made. 4 This is the function you have given your body's

eyes. 5 It is not seeing. 6 It is image making. 7 It takes the place of seeing, replacing

vision with illusions.

W-pI.15.2. This introductory idea to the process of image making that you call seeing

will not have much meaning for you. 2 You will begin to understand it when you have seen

little edges of light around the same familiar objects which you see now. 3 That is the

beginning of real vision. 4 You can be certain that real vision will come quickly when this has

occurred.

W-pI.15.3. As we go along, you may have many "light episodes." 2 They may take many

different forms, some of them quite unexpected. 3 Do not be afraid of them. 4 They are signs

that you are opening your eyes at last. 5 They will not persist, because they merely

symbolize true perception, and they are not related to knowledge. 6 These exercises will not

reveal knowledge to you. 7 But they will prepare the way to it.

W-pI.15.4. In practicing the idea for today, repeat it first to yourself, and then

apply it to whatever you see around you, using its name and letting your eyes rest on it as

you say:

2 This___is an image that I have made.

3 That___is an image that I have made.

4 It is not necessary to include a large number of specific subjects for the

application of today's idea. 5 It is necessary, however, to continue to look at each subject while

you repeat the idea to yourself. 6 The idea should be repeated quite slowly each time.

W-pI.15.5. Although you will obviously not be able to apply the idea to very many

things during the minute or so of practice that is recommended, try to make the selection as

random as possible. 2 Less than a minute will do for the practice periods, if you begin to

feel uneasy. 3 Do not have more than three application periods for today's idea unless you

feel completely comfortable with it, and do not exceed four. 4 However, the idea can be

applied as needed throughout the day.

LESSON 16.

I have no neutral thoughts.

W-pI.16.W-pI.1. The idea for today is a beginning step in dispelling the belief that

your thoughts have no effect. 2 Everything you see is the result of your thoughts. 3 There

is no exception to this fact. 4 Thoughts are not big or little; powerful or weak. 5 They

are merely true or false. 6 Those that are true create their own likeness. 7 Those that

are false make theirs.

W-pI.16.2. There is no more self-contradictory concept than that of "idle thoughts." 2

What gives rise to the perception of a whole world can hardly be called idle. 3 Every

thought you have contributes to truth or to illusion; either it extends the truth or it

multiplies illusions. 4 You can indeed multiply nothing, but you will not extend it by doing so.

W-pI.16.3. Besides your recognizing that thoughts are never idle, salvation requires

that you also recognize that every thought you have brings either peace or war; either love

or fear. 2 A neutral result is impossible because a neutral thought is impossible. 3

There is such a temptation to dismiss fear thoughts as unimportant, trivial and not worth

bothering about that it is essential you recognize them all as equally destructive, but equally

unreal. 4 We will practice this idea in many forms before you really understand it.

W-pI.16.4. In applying the idea for today, search your mind for a minute or so with

eyes closed, and actively seek not to overlook any "little" thought that may tend to elude

the search. 2 This is quite difficult until you get used to it. 3 You will find that it is

still hard for you not to make artificial distinctions. 4 Every thought that occurs to

you, regardless of the qualities that you assign to it, is a suitable subject for applying

today's idea.

W-pI.16.5. In the practice periods, first repeat the idea to yourself, and then as each

one crosses your mind hold it in awareness while you tell yourself:

2 This thought about___is not a neutral thought.

3 That thought about___is not a neutral thought.

4 As usual, use today's idea whenever you are aware of a particular thought that

arouses uneasiness. 5 The following form is suggested for this purpose:

6 This thought about___is not a neutral thought, because I have no neutral thoughts.

W-pI.16.6. Four or five practice periods are recommended, if you find them relatively

effortless. 2 If strain is experienced, three will be enough. 3 The length of the exercise period

should also be reduced if there is discomfort.

LESSON 17.

I see no neutral things.

W-pI.17.1. This idea is another step in the direction of identifying cause and effect

as it really operates in the world. 2 You see no neutral things because you have no

neutral thoughts. 3 It is always the thought that comes first, despite the temptation to

believe that it is the other way around. 4 This is not the way the world thinks, but you must

learn that it is the way you think. 5 If it were not so, perception would have no cause, and

would itself be the cause of reality. 6 In view of its highly variable nature, this is

hardly likely.

W-pI.17.2. In applying today's idea, say to yourself, with eyes open:

2 I see no neutral things because I have no neutral thoughts.

3 Then look about you, resting your glance on each thing you note long enough to say:

4 I do not see a neutral ___, because my thoughts about___are not neutral.

5 For example, you might say:

6 I do not see a neutral wall, because my thoughts about walls are not neutral.

7 I do not see a neutral body, because my thoughts about bodies are not neutral.

W-pI.17.3. As usual, it is essential to make no distinctions between what you believe

to be animate or inanimate; pleasant or unpleasant. 2 Regardless of what you may believe,

you do not see anything that is really alive or really joyous. 3 That is because you

are unaware as yet of any thought that is really true, and therefore really happy.

W-pI.17.4. Three or four specific practice periods are recommended, and no less than

three are required for maximum benefit, even if you experience resistance. 2 However, if you

do, the length of the practice period may be reduced to less than the minute or so that

is otherwise recommended.

LESSON 18.

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

W-pI.18.1. The idea for today is another step in learning that the thoughts which give

rise to what you see are never neutral or unimportant. 2 It also emphasizes the idea that

minds are joined, which will be given increasing stress later on.

W-pI.18.2. Today's idea does not refer to what you see as much as to how you see it. 2

Therefore, the exercises for today emphasize this aspect of your perception. 3 The three or four

practice periods which are recommended should be done as follows:

W-pI.18.3. Look about you, selecting subjects for the application of the idea for today

as randomly as possible, and keeping your eyes on each one long enough to say:

2 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of how I see ___.

3 Conclude each practice period by repeating the more general statement:

4 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

5 A minute or so, or even less, will be sufficient for each practice period.

LESSON 19.

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

W-pI.19.1. The idea for today is obviously the reason why your seeing does not affect

you alone. 2 You will notice that at times the ideas related to thinking precede those

related to perceiving, while at other times the order is reversed. 3 The reason is that the

order does not matter. 4 Thinking and its results are really simultaneous, for cause and

effect are never separate.

W-pI.19.2. Today we are again emphasizing the fact that minds are joined. 2 This is

rarely a wholly welcome idea at first, since it seems to carry with it an enormous sense of

responsibility, and may even be regarded as an "invasion of privacy." 3 Yet it is a fact that there

are no private thoughts. 4 Despite your initial resistance to this idea, you will yet

understand that it must be true if salvation is possible at all. 5 And salvation must be possible

because it is the Will of God.

W-pI.19.3. The minute or so of mind searching which today's exercises require is to be

undertaken with eyes closed. 2 The idea for today is to be repeated first, and then the mind

should be carefully searched for the thoughts it contains at that time. 3 As you consider

each one, name it in terms of the central person or theme it contains, and holding it in

your mind as you do so, say:

4 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of this thought about ___.

W-pI.19.4. The requirement of as much indiscriminateness as possible in selecting

subjects for the practice periods should be quite familiar to you by now, and will no longer be

repeated each day, although it will occasionally be included as a reminder. 2 Do not

forget, however, that random selection of subjects for all practice periods remains essential

throughout. 3 Lack of order in this connection will ultimately make the recognition of

lack of order in miracles meaningful to you.

W-pI.19.5. Apart from the "as needed" application of today's idea, at least three

practice periods are required, shortening the length of time involved, if necessary. 2 Do not

attempt more than four.

LESSON 20.

I am determined to see.

W-pI.20.1. We have been quite casual about our practice periods thus far. 2 There has

been virtually no attempt to direct the time for undertaking them, minimal effort has been

required, and not even active cooperation and interest have been asked. 3 This approach has

been intentional, and very carefully planned. 4 We have not lost sight of the crucial

importance of the reversal of your thinking. 5 The salvation of the world depends on it. 6 Yet

you will not see if you regard yourself as being coerced, and if you give in to resentment

and opposition.

W-pI.20.2. This is our first attempt to introduce structure. 2 Do not misconstrue it as

an effort to exert force or pressure. 3 You want salvation. 4 You want to be happy. 5

You want peace. 6 You do not have them now, because your mind is totally undisciplined,

and you cannot distinguish between joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, love and fear. 7 You

are now learning how to tell them apart. 8 And great indeed will be your reward.

W-pI.20.3. Your decision to see is all that vision requires. 2 What you want is yours.

3 Do not mistake the little effort that is asked of you for an indication that our goal

is of little worth. 4 Can the salvation of the world be a trivial purpose? 5 And can the

world be saved if you are not? 6 God has one Son, and he is the resurrection and the life. 7

His will is done because all power is given him in Heaven and on earth. 8 In your

determination to see is vision given you.

W-pI.20.4. The exercises for today consist in reminding yourself throughout the day

that you want to see. 2 Today's idea also tacitly implies the recognition that you do not

see now. 3 Therefore, as you repeat the idea, you are stating that you are determined to

change your present state for a better one, and one you really want.

W-pI.20.5. Repeat today's idea slowly and positively at least twice an hour today,

attempting to do so every half hour. 2 Do not be distressed if you forget to do so, but make a

real effort to remember. 3 The extra repetitions should be applied to any situation, person

or event that upsets you. 4 You can see them differently, and you will. 5 What you

desire you will see. 6 Such is the real law of cause and effect as it operates in the world.

LESSON 21.

I am determined to see things differently.

W-pI.21.1. The idea for today is obviously a continuation and extension of the

preceding one. 2 This time, however, specific mind-searching periods are necessary, in addition

to applying the idea to particular situations as they may arise. 3 Five practice periods

are urged, allowing a full minute for each.

W-pI.21.2. In the practice periods, begin by repeating the idea to yourself. 2 Then

close your eyes and search your mind carefully for situations past, present or anticipated

that arouse anger in you. 3 The anger may take the form of any reaction ranging from mild

irritation to rage. 4 The degree of the emotion you experience does not matter. 5 You will become

increasingly aware that a slight twinge of annoyance is nothing but a veil drawn over

intense fury.

W-pI.21.3. Try, therefore, not to let the "little" thoughts of anger escape you in the

practice periods. 2 Remember that you do not really recognize what arouses anger in you, and

nothing that you believe in this connection means anything. 3 You will probably be tempted to

dwell more on some situations or persons than on others, on the fallacious grounds that they

are more "obvious." 4 This is not so. 5 It is merely an example of the belief that some

forms of attack are more justified than others.

W-pI.21.4. As you search your mind for all the forms in which attack thoughts present

themselves, hold each one in mind while you tell yourself:

2 I am determined to see___[name of person] differently.

3 I am determined to see___[specify the situation] differently.

W-pI.21.5. Try to be as specific as possible. 2 You may, for example, focus your anger

on a particular attribute of a particular person, believing that the anger is limited to

this aspect. 3 If your perception is suffering from this form of distortion, say:

4 I am determined to see___[specify the attribute] in___[name of person] differently.

LESSON 22.

What I see is a form of vengeance.

W-pI.22.1. Today's idea accurately describes the way anyone who holds attack thoughts

in his mind must see the world. 2 Having projected his anger onto the world, he sees

vengeance about to strike at him. 3 His own attack is thus perceived as self defense. 4 This

becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees. 5 Otherwise,

thoughts of attack and counter-attack will preoccupy him and people his entire world. 6

What peace of mind is possible to him then?

W-pI.22.2. It is from this savage fantasy that you want to escape. 2 Is it not joyous

news to hear that it is not real? 3 Is it not a happy discovery to find that you can escape?

4 You made what you would destroy; everything that you hate and would attack and kill.

5 All that you fear does not exist.

W-pI.22.3. Look at the world about you at least five times today, for at least a minute

each time. 2 As your eyes move slowly from one object to another, from one body to

another, say to yourself:

3 I see only the perishable.

4 I see nothing that will last.

5 What I see is not real.

6 What I see is a form of vengeance.

7 At the end of each practice period, ask yourself:

8 Is this the world I really want to see?

9 The answer is surely obvious.

LESSON 23.

I can escape from the world I see by giving

up attack thoughts.

W-pI.23.1. The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will ever succeed.

2 Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless. 3 But this way cannot fail. 4

Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. 5 It is with your

thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed.

W-pI.23.2. If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it

is these thoughts which you do not want. 2 There is no point in lamenting the world. 3

There is no point in trying to change the world. 4 It is incapable of change because it is

merely an effect. 5 But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. 6

Here you are changing the cause. 7 The effect will change automatically.

W-pI.23.3. The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is a symbol of

vengeance. 2 Each of your perceptions of "external reality" is a pictorial representation of

your own attack thoughts. 3 One can well ask if this can be called seeing. 4 Is not fantasy

a better word for such a process, and hallucination a more appropriate term for the

result?

W-pI.23.4. You see the world that you have made, but you do not see yourself as the

image maker. 2 You cannot be saved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. 3 This

is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone? 4

Vision already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now. 5 Loveliness can

light your images, and so transform them that you will love them, even though they were made

of hate. 6 For you will not be making them alone.

W-pI.23.5. The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the

world you see, because its cause can be changed. 2 This change requires, first, that the

cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. 3 The first two steps in

this process require your cooperation. 4 The final one does not. 5 Your images have already

been replaced. 6 By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so.

W-pI.23.6. Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five practice

periods are required in applying today's idea. 2 As you look about you, repeat the idea slowly

to yourself first, and then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your

mind for as many attack thoughts as occur to you. 3 As each one crosses your mind say:

4 I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts about ___. 5 Hold each

attack thought in mind as you say this, and then dismiss that thought and go on to the

next.

W-pI.23.7. In the practice periods, be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking

and of being attacked. 2 Their effects are exactly the same because they are exactly the

same. 3 You do not recognize this as yet, and you are asked at this time only to treat them

as the same in today's practice periods. 4 We are still at the stage of identifying the

cause of the world you see. 5 When you finally learn that thoughts of attack and of

being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause go.

LESSON 24.

I do not perceive my own best interests.

W-pI.24.1. In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you

happy. 2 Therefore, you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the

result. 3 What you do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that perception

is wrong. 4 It is inevitable, then, that you will not serve your own best interests. 5

Yet they are your only goal in any situation which is correctly perceived. 6 Otherwise,

you will not recognize what they are.

W-pI.24.2. If you realized that you do not perceive your own best interests, you could

be taught what they are. 2 But in the presence of your conviction that you do know what

they are, you cannot learn. 3 The idea for today is a step toward opening your mind so that

learning can begin.

W-pI.24.3. The exercises for today require much more honesty than you are accustomed to

using. 2 A few subjects, honestly and carefully considered in each of the five practice

periods which should be undertaken today, will be more helpful than a more cursory

examination of a large number. 3 Two minutes are suggested for each of the mind-searching periods

which the exercises involve.

W-pI.24.4. The practice periods should begin with repeating today's idea, followed by

searching the mind, with closed eyes, for unresolved situations about which you are currently

concerned. 2 The emphasis should be on uncovering the outcome you want. 3 You will quickly

realize that you have a number of goals in mind as part of the desired outcome, and also that

these goals are on different levels and often conflict.

W-pI.24.5. In applying the idea for today, name each situation that occurs to you, and

then enumerate carefully as many goals as possible that you would like to be met in its

resolution. 2 The form of each application should be roughly as follows:

3 In the situation involving___, I would like___to happen, and___to happen,

and so on. 4 Try to cover as many different kinds of outcomes as may honestly occur to

you, even if some of them do not appear to be directly related to the situation, or even

to be inherent in it at all.

W-pI.24.6. If these exercises are done properly, you will quickly recognize that you

are making a large number of demands of the situation which have nothing to do with it. 2

You will also recognize that many of your goals are contradictory, that you have no

unified outcome in mind, and that you must experience disappointment in connection with some

of your goals, however the situation turns out.

W-pI.24.7. After covering the list of as many hoped-for goals as possible, for each

unresolved situation that crosses your mind say to yourself:

2 I do not perceive my own best interests in this situation,

and go on to the next one.

LESSON 25.

I do not know what anything is for.

W-pI.25.1. Purpose is meaning. 2 Today's idea explains why nothing you see means

anything. 3 You do not know what it is for. 4 Therefore, it is meaningless to you. 5 Everything

is for your own best interests. 6 That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is

what it means. 7 It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. 8 It is in

recognizing this that what you see is given meaning.

W-pI.25.2. You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego

goals. 2 These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not

you. 3 This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is

for. 4 As a result, you are bound to misuse it. 5 When you believe this, you will try to

withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world, instead of attempting to reinforce them.

W-pI.25.3. Another way of describing the goals you now perceive is to say that they are

all concerned with "personal" interests. 2 Since you have no personal interests, your

goals are really concerned with nothing. 3 In cherishing them, therefore, you have no goals

at all. 4 And thus you do not know what anything is for.

W-pI.25.4. Before you can make any sense out of the exercises for today, one more

thought is necessary. 2 At the most superficial levels, you do recognize purpose. 3 Yet

purpose cannot be understood at these levels. 4 For example, you do understand that a

telephone is for the purpose of talking to someone who is not physically in your immediate

vicinity. 5 What you do not understand is what you want to reach him for. 6 And it is this that

makes your contact with him meaningful or not.

W-pI.25.5. It is crucial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have

established for everything. 2 The recognition that they are meaningless, rather than "good" or "

bad," is the only way to accomplish this. 3 The idea for today is a step in this direction.

W-pI.25.6. Six practice periods, each of two-minutes duration, are required. 2 Each

practice period should begin with a slow repetition of the idea for today, followed by looking

about you and letting your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye, near or far, "

important" or "unimportant," "human" or "nonhuman." 3 With your eyes resting on each subject you

so select, say, for example:

4 I do not know what this chair is for.

5 I do not know what this pencil is for.

6 I do not know what this hand is for.

7 Say this quite slowly, without shifting your eyes from the subject until you have

completed the statement about it. 8 Then move on to the next subject, and apply today's idea as

before.

LESSON 26.

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

W-pI.26.1. It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked you are not invulnerable. 2

You see attack as a real threat. 3 That is because you believe that you can really

attack. 4 And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you. 5 It is this

law that will ultimately save you, but you are misusing it now. 6 You must therefore

learn how it can be used for your own best interests, rather than against them.

W-pI.26.2. Because your attack thoughts will be projected, you will fear attack. 2 And

if you fear attack, you must believe that you are not invulnerable. 3 Attack thoughts

therefore make you vulnerable in your own mind, which is where the attack thoughts are. 4 Attack

thoughts and invulnerability cannot be accepted together. 5 They contradict each other.

W-pI.26.3. The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself

first. 2 If attack thoughts must entail the belief that you are vulnerable, their effect is

to weaken you in your own eyes. 3 Thus they have attacked your perception of yourself. 4

And because you believe in them, you can no longer believe in yourself. 5 A false image of

yourself has come to take the place of what you are.

W-pI.26.4. Practice with today's idea will help you to understand that vulnerability or

invulnerability is the result of your own thoughts. 2 Nothing except your thoughts can

attack you. 3 Nothing except your thoughts can make you think you are vulnerable. 4 And

nothing except your thoughts can prove to you this is not so.

W-pI.26.5. Six practice periods are required in applying today's idea. 2 A full two

minutes should be attempted for each of them, although the time may be reduced to a minute if

the discomfort is too great. 3 Do not reduce it further.

W-pI.26.6. The practice period should begin with repeating the idea for today, then

closing your eyes and reviewing the unresolved questions whose outcomes are causing you

concern. 2 The concern may take the form of depression, worry, anger, a sense of imposition,

fear, foreboding or preoccupation. 3 Any problem as yet unsettled that tends to recur in

your thoughts during the day is a suitable subject. 4 You will not be able to use very many

for any one practice period, because a longer time than usual should be spent with each

one. 5 Today's idea should be applied as follows:

W-pI.26.7. First, name the situation:

2 I am concerned about ___.

3 Then go over every possible outcome that has occurred to you in that connection and

which has caused you concern, referring to each one quite specifically, saying:

4 I am afraid___will happen.

W-pI.26.8. If you are doing the exercises properly, you should have some five or six

distressing possibilities available for each situation you use, and quite possibly more. 2 It is

much more helpful to cover a few situations thoroughly than to touch on a larger number. 3

As the list of anticipated outcomes for each situation continues, you will probably find

some of them, especially those that occur to you toward the end, less acceptable to you. 4

Try, however, to treat them all alike to whatever extent you can.

W-pI.26.9. After you have named each outcome of which you are afraid, tell yourself:

2 That thought is an attack upon myself.

3 Conclude each practice period by repeating today's idea to yourself once more.

LESSON 27.

Above all else I want to see.

W-pI.27.1. Today's idea expresses something stronger than mere determination. 2 It

gives vision priority among your desires. 3 You may feel hesitant about using the idea, on

the grounds that you are not sure you really mean it. 4 This does not matter. 5 The

purpose of today's exercises is to bring the time when the idea will be wholly true a little

nearer.

W-pI.27.2. There may be a great temptation to believe that some sort of sacrifice is

being asked of you when you say you want to see above all else. 2 If you become uneasy about

the lack of reservation involved, add:

3 Vision has no cost to anyone.

4 If fear of loss still persists, add further:

5 It can only bless.

W-pI.27.3. The idea for today needs many repetitions for maximum benefit. 2 It should

be used at least every half hour, and more if possible. 3 You might try for every fifteen

or twenty minutes. 4 It is recommended that you set a definite time interval for using

the idea when you wake or shortly afterwards, and attempt to adhere to it throughout the

day. 5 It will not be difficult to do this, even if you are engaged in conversation, or

otherwise occupied at the time. 6 You can still repeat one short sentence to yourself without

disturbing anything.

W-pI.27.4. The real question is, how often will you remember? 2 How much do you want

today's idea to be true? 3 Answer one of these questions, and you have answered the other. 4

You will probably miss several applications, and perhaps quite a number. 5 Do not be

disturbed by this, but do try to keep on your schedule from then on. 6 If only once during the

day you feel that you were perfectly sincere while you were repeating today's idea, you

can be sure that you have saved yourself many years of effort.

LESSON 28.

Above all else I want to see things differently.

W-pI.28.1. Today we are really giving specific application to the idea for yesterday. 2

In these practice periods, you will be making a series of definite commitments. 3 The

question of whether you will keep them in the future is not our concern here. 4 If you are

willing at least to make them now, you have started on the way to keeping them. 5 And we are

still at the beginning.

W-pI.28.2. You may wonder why it is important to say, for example, "Above all else I

want to see this table differently." 2 In itself it is not important at all. 3 Yet what is

by itself? 4 And what does "in itself" mean? 5 You see a lot of separate things about you,

which really means you are not seeing at all. 6 You either see or not. 7 When you have

seen one thing differently, you will see all things differently. 8 The light you will

see in any one of them is the same light you will see in them all.

W-pI.28.3. When you say, "Above all else I want to see this table differently," you are

making a commitment to withdraw your preconceived ideas about the table, and open your

mind to what it is, and what it is for. 2 You are not defining it in past terms. 3 You are

asking what it is, rather than telling it what it is. 4 You are not binding its meaning to

your tiny experience of tables, nor are you limiting its purpose to your little personal

thoughts.

W-pI.28.4. You will not question what you have already defined. 2 And the purpose of

these exercises is to ask questions and receive the answers. 3 In saying, "Above all else I

want to see this table differently," you are committing yourself to seeing. 4 It is not an

exclusive commitment. 5 It is a commitment that applies to the table just as much as to anything

else, neither more nor less.

W-pI.28.5. You could, in fact, gain vision from just that table, if you would withdraw

all your own ideas from it, and look upon it with a completely open mind. 2 It has

something to show you; something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness

and hope. 3 Hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose, the purpose it

shares with all the universe.

W-pI.28.6. In using the table as a subject for applying the idea for today, you are

therefore really asking to see the purpose of the universe. 2 You will be making this same

request of each subject that you use in the practice periods. 3 And you are making a

commitment to each of them to let its purpose be revealed to you, instead of placing your own

judgment upon it.

W-pI.28.7. We will have six two-minute practice periods today, in which the idea for

the day is stated first, and then applied to whatever you see about you. 2 Not only should

the subjects be chosen randomly, but each one should be accorded equal sincerity as

today's idea is applied to it, in an attempt to acknowledge the equal value of them all in

their contribution to your seeing.

W-pI.28.8. As usual, the applications should include the name of the subject your eyes

happen to light on, and you should rest your eyes on it while saying:

2 Above all else I want to see this___differently.

3 Each application should be made quite slowly, and as thoughtfully as possible. 4

There is no hurry.

LESSON 29.

God is in everything I see.

W-pI.29.1. The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything. 2 It

explains why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. 3 And it explains why nothing you see

means anything. 4 In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far, and all

subsequent ones as well. 5 Today's idea is the whole basis for vision.

W-pI.29.2. You will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point. 2

You may find it silly, irreverent, senseless, funny and even objectionable. 3 Certainly

God is not in a table, for example, as you see it. 4 Yet we emphasized yesterday that a

table shares the purpose of the universe. 5 And what shares the purpose of the universe

shares the purpose of its Creator.

W-pI.29.3. Try then, today, to begin to learn how to look on all things with love,

appreciation and open-mindedness. 2 You do not see them now. 3 Would you know what is in them? 4

Nothing is as it appears to you. 5 Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range. 6 When

vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand today's idea

perfectly. 7 And you will not understand how you could ever have found it difficult.

W-pI.29.4. Our six two-minute practice periods for today should follow a now familiar

pattern: Begin with repeating the idea to yourself, and then apply it to randomly chosen

subjects about you, naming each one specifically. 2 Try to avoid the tendency toward

self-directed selection, which may be particularly tempting in connection with today's idea because

of its wholly alien nature. 3 Remember that any order you impose is equally alien to

reality.

W-pI.29.5. Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as

possible. 2 For example, a suitable list might include:

3 God is in this coat hanger.

4 God is in this magazine.

5 God is in this finger.

6 God is in this lamp.

7 God is in that body.

8 God is in that door.

9 God is in that waste basket.

10 In addition to the assigned practice periods, repeat the idea for today at least

once an hour, looking slowly about you as you say the words unhurriedly to yourself. 11 At

least once or twice, you should experience a sense of restfulness as you do this.

LESSON 30.

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

W-pI.30.1. The idea for today is the springboard for vision. 2 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. 3 Nor will what you saw before be even faintly visible to you.

W-pI.30.2. Today we are trying to use a new kind of "projection." 2 We are not

attempting to get rid of what we do not like by seeing it outside. 3 Instead, we are trying to

see in the world what is in our minds, and what we want to recognize is there. 4 Thus, we

are trying to join with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us. 5 That is the

fundamental difference between vision and the way you see.

W-pI.30.3. Today's idea should be applied as often as possible throughout the day. 2

Whenever you have a moment or so, repeat it to yourself slowly, looking about you, and trying

to realize that the idea applies to everything you do see now, or could see now if it

were within the range of your sight.

W-pI.30.4. Real vision is not limited to concepts such as "near" and "far." 2 To help

you begin to get used to this idea, try to think of things beyond your present range as

well as those you can actually see, as you apply today's idea.

W-pI.30.5. Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not

depend on the body's eyes at all. 2 The mind is its only source. 3 To aid in helping you to

become more accustomed to this idea as well, devote several practice periods to applying

today's idea with your eyes closed, using whatever subjects come to mind, and looking within

rather than without. 4 Today's idea applies equally to both.

LESSON 31.

I am not the victim of the world I see.

W-pI.31.1. Today's idea is the introduction to your declaration of release. 2 Again,

the idea should be applied to both the world you see without and the world you see within.

3 In applying the idea, we will use a form of practice which will be used more and more,

with changes as indicated. 4 Generally speaking, the form includes two aspects, one in

which you apply the idea on a more sustained basis, and the other consisting of

frequent applications of the idea throughout the day.

W-pI.31.2. Two longer periods of practice with the idea for today are needed, one in

the morning and one at night. 2 Three to five minutes for each of these are recommended. 3

During that time, look about you slowly while repeating the idea two or three times. 4

Then close your eyes, and apply the same idea to your inner world. 5 You will escape from

both together, for the inner is the cause of the outer.

W-pI.31.3. As you survey your inner world, merely let whatever thoughts cross your mind

come into your awareness, each to be considered for a moment, and then replaced by the

next. 2 Try not to establish any kind of hierarchy among them. 3 Watch them come and go as

dispassionately as possible. 4 Do not dwell on any one in particular, but try to let the stream move

on evenly and calmly, without any special investment on your part. 5 As you sit and

quietly watch your thoughts, repeat today's idea to yourself as often as you care to, but with

no sense of hurry.

W-pI.31.4. In addition, repeat the idea for today as often as possible during the day.

2 Remind yourself that you are making a declaration of independence in the name of your

own freedom. 3 And in your freedom lies the freedom of the world.

W-pI.31.5. The idea for today is also a particularly useful one to use as a response to

any form of temptation that may arise. 2 It is a declaration that you will not yield to

it, and put yourself in bondage.

LESSON 32.

I have invented the world I see.

W-pI.32.1. Today we are continuing to develop the theme of cause and effect. 2 You are

not the victim of the world you see because you invented it. 3 You can give it up as

easily as you made it up. 4 You will see it or not see it, as you wish. 5 While you want it

you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see.

W-pI.32.2. The idea for today, like the preceding ones, applies to your inner and outer

worlds, which are actually the same. 2 However, since you see them as different, the

practice periods for today will again include two phases, one involving the world you see

outside you, and the other the world you see in your mind. 3 In today's exercises, try to

introduce the thought that both are in your own imagination.

W-pI.32.3. Again we will begin the practice periods for the morning and evening by

repeating the idea for today two or three times while looking around at the world you see as

outside yourself. 2 Then close your eyes and look around your inner world. 3 Try to treat them

both as equally as possible. 4 Repeat the idea for today unhurriedly as often as you

wish, as you watch the images your imagination presents to your awareness.

W-pI.32.4. For the two longer practice periods three to five minutes are recommended,

with not less than three required. 2 More than five can be utilized, if you find the

exercise restful. 3 To facilitate this, select a time when few distractions are anticipated,

and when you yourself feel reasonably ready.

W-pI.32.5. These exercises are also to be continued during the day, as often as

possible. 2 The shorter applications consist of repeating the idea slowly, as you survey either

your inner or outer world. 3 It does not matter which you choose.

W-pI.32.6. The idea for today should also be applied immediately to any situation that

may distress you. 2 Apply the idea by telling yourself:

3 I have invented this situation as I see it.

LESSON 33.

There is another way of looking at the world.

W-pI.33.1. Today's idea is an attempt to recognize that you can shift your perception

of the world in both its outer and inner aspects. 2 A full five minutes should be devoted

to the morning and evening applications. 3 In these practice periods, the idea should

be repeated as often as you find comfortable, though unhurried applications are essential.

4 Alternate between surveying your outer and inner perceptions, but without an abrupt

sense of shifting.

W-pI.33.2. Merely glance casually around the world you perceive as outside yourself,

then close your eyes and survey your inner thoughts with equal casualness. 2 Try to remain

equally uninvolved in both, and to maintain this detachment as you repeat the idea throughout

the day.

W-pI.33.3. The shorter exercise periods should be as frequent as possible. 2 Specific

applications of today's idea should also be made immediately, when any situation arises which

tempts you to become disturbed. 3 For these applications, say:

4 There is another way of looking at this.

W-pI.33.4. Remember to apply today's idea the instant you are aware of distress. 2 It

may be necessary to take a minute or so to sit quietly and repeat the idea to yourself

several times. 3 Closing your eyes will probably help in this form of application.

LESSON 34.

I could see peace instead of this.

W-pI.34.1. The idea for today begins to describe the conditions that prevail in the

other way of seeing. 2 Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. 3 It must begin with

your own thoughts, and then extend outward. 4 It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful

perception of the world arises.

W-pI.34.2. Three longer practice periods are required for today's exercises. 2 One in

the morning and one in the evening are advised, with an additional one to be undertaken at

any time in between that seems most conducive to readiness. 3 All applications should

be done with your eyes closed. 4 It is your inner world to which the applications of

today's idea should be made.

W-pI.34.3. Some five minutes of mind searching are required for each of the longer

practice periods. 2 Search your mind for fear thoughts, anxiety-provoking situations, "

offending" personalities or events, or anything else about which you are harboring unloving

thoughts. 3 Note them all casually, repeating the idea for today slowly as you watch them arise

in your mind, and let each one go, to be replaced by the next.

W-pI.34.4. If you begin to experience difficulty in thinking of specific subjects,

continue to repeat the idea to yourself in an unhurried manner, without applying it to anything

in particular. 2 Be sure, however, not to make any specific exclusions.

W-pI.34.5. The shorter applications are to be frequent, and made whenever you feel your

peace of mind is threatened in any way. 2 The purpose is to protect yourself from

temptation throughout the day. 3 If a specific form of temptation arises in your awareness, the

exercise should take this form:

4 I could see peace in this situation instead of what I now see in it.

W-pI.34.6. If the inroads on your peace of mind take the form of more generalized

adverse emotions, such as depression, anxiety or worry, use the idea in its original form. 2

If you find you need more than one application of today's idea to help you change your

mind in any specific context, try to take several minutes and devote them to repeating the

idea until you feel some sense of relief. 3 It will help you if you tell yourself

specifically:

4 I can replace my feelings of depression, anxiety or worry [or my thoughts about this

situation, personality or event] with peace.

LESSON 35.

My mind is part of God's. I am very holy.

W-pI.35.1. Today's idea does not describe the way you see yourself now. 2 It does,

however, describe what vision will show you. 3 It is difficult for anyone who thinks he is in

this world to believe this of himself. 4 Yet the reason he thinks he is in this world is

because he does not believe it.

W-pI.35.2. You will believe that you are part of where you think you are. 2 That is

because you surround yourself with the environment you want. 3 And you want it to protect the

image of yourself that you have made. 4 The image is part of this environment. 5 What you

see while you believe you are in it is seen through the eyes of the image. 6 This is not

vision. 7 Images cannot see.

W-pI.35.3. The idea for today presents a very different view of yourself. 2 By

establishing your Source it establishes your Identity, and it describes you as you must really be

in truth. 3 We will use a somewhat different kind of application for today's idea because

the emphasis for today is on the perceiver, rather than on what he perceives.

W-pI.35.4. For each of the three five-minute practice periods today, begin by repeating

today's idea to yourself, and then close your eyes and search your mind for the various

kinds of descriptive terms in which you see yourself. 2 Include all the ego-based

attributes which you ascribe to yourself, positive or negative, desirable or undesirable,

grandiose or debased. 3 All of them are equally unreal, because you do not look upon yourself

through the eyes of holiness.

W-pI.35.5. In the earlier part of the mind-searching period, you will probably

emphasize what you consider to be the more negative aspects of your perception of yourself. 2

Toward the latter part of the exercise period, however, more self-inflating descriptive terms

may well cross your mind. 3 Try to recognize that the direction of your fantasies about

yourself does not matter. 4 Illusions have no direction in reality. 5 They are merely

not true.

W-pI.35.6. A suitable unselected list for applying the idea for today might be as

follows:

2 I see myself as imposed on.

3 I see myself as depressed.

4 I see myself as failing.

5 I see myself as endangered.

6 I see myself as helpless.

7 I see myself as victorious.

8 I see myself as losing out.

9 I see myself as charitable.

10 I see myself as virtuous.

W-pI.35.7. You should not think of these terms in an abstract way. 2 They will occur to

you as various situations, personalities and events in which you figure cross your mind.

3 Pick up any specific situation that occurs to you, identify the descriptive term or

terms you feel are applicable to your reactions to that situation, and use them in applying

today's idea. 4 After you have named each one, add:

5 But my mind is part of God's. 6 I am very holy.

W-pI.35.8. During the longer exercise periods, there will probably be intervals in

which nothing specific occurs to you. 2 Do not strain to think up specific things to fill

the interval, but merely relax and repeat today's idea slowly until something occurs to

you. 3 Although nothing that does occur should be omitted from the exercises, nothing

should be "dug out" with effort. 4 Neither force nor discrimination should be used.

W-pI.35.9. As often as possible during the day, pick up a specific attribute or

attributes you are ascribing to yourself at the time and apply the idea for today to them, adding

the idea in the form stated above to each of them. 2 If nothing particular occurs to

you, merely repeat the idea to yourself, with closed eyes.

LESSON 36.

My holiness envelops everything I see.

W-pI.36.1. Today's idea extends the idea for yesterday from the perceiver to the

perceived. 2 You are holy because your mind is part of God's. 3 And because you are holy, your

sight must be holy as well. 4 "Sinless" means without sin. 5 You cannot be without sin a

little. 6 You are sinless or not. 7 If your mind is part of God's you must be sinless, or a

part of His Mind would be sinful. 8 Your sight is related to His Holiness, not to your ego,

and therefore not to your body.

W-pI.36.2. Four three-to-five-minute practice periods are required for today. 2 Try to

distribute them fairly evenly, and make the shorter applications frequently, to protect your

protection throughout the day. 3 The longer practice periods should take this form:

W-pI.36.3. First, close your eyes and repeat the idea for today several times, slowly.

2 Then open your eyes and look quite slowly about you, applying the idea specifically to

whatever you note in your casual survey. 3 Say, for example:

4 My holiness envelops that rug.

5 My holiness envelops that wall.

6 My holiness envelops these fingers.

7 My holiness envelops that chair.

8 My holiness envelops that body.

9 My holiness envelops this pen.

10 Several times during these practice periods, close your eyes and repeat the idea to

yourself. 11 Then open your eyes, and continue as before.

W-pI.36.4. For the shorter exercise periods, close your eyes and repeat the idea; look

about you as you repeat it again; and conclude with one more repetition with your eyes

closed. 2 All applications should, of course, be made quite slowly, as effortlessly and

unhurriedly as possible.

LESSON 37.

My holiness blesses the world.

W-pI.37.1. This idea contains the first glimmerings of your true function in the world,

or why you are here. 2 Your purpose is to see the world through your own holiness. 3

Thus are you and the world blessed together. 4 No one loses; nothing is taken away from

anyone; everyone gains through your holy vision. 5 It signifies the end of sacrifice because

it offers everyone his full due. 6 And he is entitled to everything because it is his

birthright as a Son of God.

W-pI.37.2. There is no other way in which the idea of sacrifice can be removed from the

world's thinking. 2 Any other way of seeing will inevitably demand payment of someone

or something. 3 As a result, the perceiver will lose. 4 Nor will he have any idea why he

is losing. 5 Yet is his wholeness restored to his awareness through your vision. 6 Your

holiness blesses him by asking nothing of him. 7 Those who see themselves as whole make no

demands.

W-pI.37.3. Your holiness is the salvation of the world. 2 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.37.4. Today's four longer exercise periods, each to involve three to five minutes

of practice, begin with the repetition of the idea for today, followed by a minute or so

of looking about you as you apply the idea to whatever you see:

2 My holiness blesses this chair

3 My holiness blesses that window

4 My holiness blesses this body.

5 Then close your eyes and apply the idea to any person who occurs to you, using his

name and saying:

6 My holiness blesses you, [name].

W-pI.37.5. You may continue the practice period with your eyes closed; you may open

your eyes again and apply the idea for today to your outer world if you so desire; you may

alternate between applying the idea to what you see around you and to those who are in your

thoughts; or you may use any combination of these two phases of application that you prefer. 2

The practice period should conclude with a repetition of the idea with your eyes closed,

and another, following immediately, with your eyes open.

W-pI.37.6. The shorter exercises consist of repeating the idea as often as you can. 2

It is particularly helpful to apply it silently to anyone you meet, using his name as you

do so. 3 It is essential to use the idea if anyone seems to cause an adverse reaction

in you. 4 Offer him the blessing of your holiness immediately, that you may learn to keep

it in your own awareness.

LESSON 38.

There is nothing my holiness cannot do.

W-pI.38.1. Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. 2 It is beyond every

restriction of time, space, distance and limits of any kind. 3 Your holiness is totally unlimited

in its power because it establishes you as a Son of God, at one with the Mind of his

Creator.

W-pI.38.2. Through your holiness the power of God is made manifest. 2 Through your

holiness the power of God is made available. 3 And there is nothing the power of God cannot do.

4 Your holiness, then, can remove all pain, can end all sorrow, and can solve all

problems. 5 It can do so in connection with yourself and with anyone else. 6 It is equal in its

power to help anyone because it is equal in its power to save anyone.

W-pI.38.3. If you are holy, so is everything God created. 2 You are holy because all

things He created are holy. 3 And all things He created are holy because you are. 4 In

today's exercises, we will apply the power of your holiness to all problems, difficulties or

suffering in any form that you happen to think of, in yourself or in someone else. 5 We will

make no distinctions because there are no distinctions.

W-pI.38.4. In the four longer practice periods, each preferably to last a full five

minutes, repeat the idea for today, close your eyes, and then search your mind for any sense

of loss or unhappiness of any kind as you see it. 2 Try to make as little distinction as

possible between a situation that is difficult for you, and one that is difficult for someone

else. 3 Identify the situation specifically, and also the name of the person concerned. 4

Use this form in applying the idea for today:

5 In the situation involving ___ in which I see myself, there is nothing that my

holiness cannot do.

6 In the situation involving___in which___sees himself, there is nothing my holiness

cannot do.

W-pI.38.5. From time to time you may want to vary this procedure, and add some relevant

thoughts of your own. 2 You might like, for example, to include thoughts such as:

3 There is nothing my holiness cannot do because the power of God lies in it.

4 Introduce whatever variations appeal to you, but keep the exercises focused on the

theme, "There is nothing my holiness cannot do." 5 The purpose of today's exercises is to

begin to instill in you a sense that you have dominion over all things because of what you

are.

W-pI.38.6. In the frequent shorter applications, apply the idea in its original form

unless a specific problem concerning you or someone else arises, or comes to mind. 2 In that

event, use the more specific form in applying the idea to it.

LESSON 39.

My holiness is my salvation.

W-pI.39.1. If guilt is hell, what is its opposite? 2 Like the text for which this

workbook was written, the ideas used for the exercises are very simple, very clear and totally

unambiguous. 3 We are not concerned with intellectual feats nor logical toys. 4 We are dealing

only in the very obvious, which has been overlooked in the clouds of complexity in which

you think you think.

W-pI.39.2. If guilt is hell, what is its opposite? 2 This is not difficult, surely. 3

The hesitation you may feel in answering is not due to the ambiguity of the question. 4

But do you believe that guilt is hell? 5 If you did, you would see at once how direct and

simple the text is, and you would not need a workbook at all. 6 No one needs practice to gain

what is already his.

W-pI.39.3. We have already said that your holiness is the salvation of the world. 2

What about your own salvation? 3 You cannot give what you do not have. 4 A savior must be

saved. 5 How else can he teach salvation? 6 Today's exercises will apply to you, recognizing

that your salvation is crucial to the salvation of the world. 7 As you apply the

exercises to your world, the whole world stands to benefit.

W-pI.39.4. Your holiness is the answer to every question that was ever asked, is being

asked now, or will be asked in the future. 2 Your holiness means the end of guilt, and

therefore the end of hell. 3 Your holiness is the salvation of the world, and your own. 4 How

could you to whom your holiness belongs be excluded from it? 5 God does not know unholiness.

6 Can it be He does not know His Son?

W-pI.39.5. A full five minutes are urged for the four longer practice periods for today,

and longer and more frequent practice sessions are encouraged. 2 If you want to exceed

the minimum requirements, more rather than longer sessions are recommended, although

both are suggested.

W-pI.39.6. Begin the practice periods as usual, by repeating today's idea to yourself.

2 Then, with closed eyes, search out your unloving thoughts in whatever form they appear;

uneasiness, depression, anger, fear, worry, attack, insecurity and so on. 3 Whatever

form they take, they are unloving and therefore fearful. 4 And so it is from them that you

need to be saved.

W-pI.39.7. Specific situations, events or personalities you associate with unloving

thoughts of any kind are suitable subjects for today's exercises. 2 It is imperative for your

salvation that you see them differently. 3 And it is your blessing on them that will save you

and give you vision.

W-pI.39.8. Slowly, without conscious selection and without undue emphasis on any one in

particular, search your mind for every thought that stands between you and your

salvation. 2 Apply the idea for today to each of them in this way:

3 My unloving thoughts about___are keeping me in hell

4 My holiness is my salvation.

W-pI.39.9. You may find these practice periods easier if you intersperse them with

several short periods during which you merely repeat today's idea to yourself slowly a few

times. 2 You may also find it helpful to include a few short intervals in which you just

relax and do not seem to be thinking of anything. 3 Sustained concentration is very

difficult at first. 4 It will become much easier as your mind becomes more disciplined and less

distractible.

W-pI.39.10. Meanwhile, you should feel free to introduce variety into the exercise

periods in whatever form appeals to you. 2 Do not, however, change the idea itself as you vary

the method of applying it. 3 However you elect to use it, the idea should be stated so

that its meaning is the fact that your holiness is your salvation. 4 End each practice

period by repeating the idea in its original form once more, and adding:

5 If guilt is hell, what is its opposite?

W-pI.39.11. In the shorter applications, which should be made some three or four times

an hour and more if possible, you may ask yourself this question, repeat today's idea,

and preferably both. 2 If temptations arise, a particularly helpful form of the idea is:

3 My holiness is my salvation from this.

LESSON 40.

I am blessed as a Son of God.

W-pI.40.1. Today we will begin to assert some of the happy things to which you are

entitled, being what you are. 2 No long practice periods are required today, but very frequent

short ones are necessary. 3 Once every ten minutes would be highly desirable, and you are

urged to attempt this schedule and to adhere to it whenever possible. 4 If you forget, try

again. 5 If there are long interruptions, try again. 6 Whenever you remember, try again.

W-pI.40.2. You need not close your eyes for the exercise periods, although you will

probably find it more helpful if you do. 2 However, you may be in a number of situations during

the day when closing your eyes would not be feasible. 3 Do not miss a practice period

because of this. 4 You can practice quite well under any circumstances, if you really want to.

W-pI.40.3. Today's exercises take little time and no effort. 2 Repeat the idea for

today, and then add several of the attributes you associate with being a Son of God,

applying them to yourself. 3 One practice period might, for example, consist of the following:

4 I am blessed as a Son of God

5 I am happy, peaceful, loving and contented.

6 Another might take this form:

7 I am blessed as a Son of God

8 I am calm, quiet, assured and confident.

9 If only a brief period is available, merely telling yourself that you are blessed as

a Son of God will do.

LESSON 41.

God goes with me wherever I go.

W-pI.41.1. Today's idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness and

abandonment all the separated ones experience. 2 Depression is an inevitable

consequence of separation. 3 So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness, misery,

suffering and intense fear of loss.

W-pI.41.2. The separated ones have invented many "cures" for what they believe to be "

the ills of the world." 2 But the one thing they do not do is to question the reality of

the problem. 3 Yet its effects cannot be cured because the problem is not real. 4 The idea

for today has the power to end all this foolishness forever. 5 And foolishness it is,

despite the serious and tragic forms it may take.

W-pI.41.3. Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you

and out into the world. 2 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.

W-pI.41.4. You can never be deprived of your perfect holiness because its Source goes

with you wherever you go. 2 You can never suffer because the Source of all joy goes with

you wherever you go. 3 You can never be alone because the Source of all life goes with you

wherever you go. 4 Nothing can destroy your peace of mind because God goes with you

wherever you go.

W-pI.41.5. We understand that you do not believe all this. 2 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? 3 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.

W-pI.41.6. There will be only one long practice period today. 2 In the morning, as soon

as you get up if possible, sit quietly for some three to five minutes, with your eyes

closed. 3 At the beginning of the practice period, repeat today's idea very slowly. 4 Then

make no effort to think of anything. 5 Try, instead, to get a sense of turning inward, past

all the idle thoughts of the world. 6 Try to enter very deeply into your own mind,

keeping it clear of any thoughts that might divert your attention.

W-pI.41.7. From time to time, you may repeat the idea if you find it helpful. 2 But

most of all, try to sink down and inward, away from the world and all the foolish thoughts

of the world. 3 You are trying to reach past all these things. 4 You are trying to leave

appearances and approach reality.

W-pI.41.8. It is quite possible to reach God. 2 In fact it is very easy, because it is

the most natural thing in the world. 3 You might even say it is the only natural thing in

the world. 4 The way will open, if you believe that it is possible. 5 This exercise can

bring very startling results even the first time it is attempted, and sooner or later it is

always successful. 6 We will go into more detail about this kind of practice as we go along.

7 But it will never fail completely, and instant success is possible.

W-pI.41.9. Throughout the day use today's idea often, repeating it very slowly,

preferably with eyes closed. 2 Think of what you are saying; what the words mean. 3 Concentrate

on the holiness that they imply about you; on the unfailing companionship that is yours;

on the complete protection that surrounds you.

W-pI.41.10. You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes

with you wherever you go.

LESSON 42.

God is my strength. Vision is His gift.

W-pI.42.1. The idea for today combines two very powerful thoughts, both of major

importance. 2 It also sets forth a cause and effect relationship that explains why you cannot

fail in your efforts to achieve the goal of the course. 3 You will see because it is the

Will of God. 4 It is His strength, not your own, that gives you power. 5 And it is His gift,

rather than your own, that offers vision to you.

W-pI.42.2. God is indeed your strength, and what He gives is truly given. 2 This means

that you can receive it any time and anywhere, wherever you are, and in whatever

circumstance you find yourself. 3 Your passage through time and space is not at random. 4 You

cannot but be in the right place at the right time. 5 Such is the strength of God. 6 Such are

His gifts.

W-pI.42.3. We will have two three-to-five-minute practice periods today, one as soon as

possible after you wake, and another as close as possible to the time you go to sleep.

2 It is better, however, to wait until you can sit quietly by yourself, at a time when

you feel ready, than it is to be concerned with the time as such.

W-pI.42.4. Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today slowly, with

your eyes open, looking about you. 2 Then close your eyes and repeat the idea again, even

slower than before. 3 After this, try to think of nothing except thoughts that occur to you

in relation to the idea for the day. 4 You might think, for example:

5 Vision must be possible. 6 God gives truly,

or:

7 God's gifts to me must be mine, because He gave them to me.

W-pI.42.5. Any thought that is clearly related to the idea for today is suitable. 2 You

may, in fact, be astonished at the amount of course-related understanding some of your

thoughts contain. 3 Let them come without censoring unless you find your mind is merely

wandering, and you have let obviously irrelevant thoughts intrude. 4 You may also reach a point

where no thoughts at all seem to come to mind. 5 If such interferences occur, open your eyes

and repeat the thought once more while looking slowly about; close your eyes, repeat

the idea once more, and then continue to look for related thoughts in your mind.

W-pI.42.6. Remember, however, that active searching for relevant thoughts is not

appropriate for today's exercises. 2 Try merely to step back and let the thoughts come. 3 If you

find this difficult, it is better to spend the practice period alternating between slow

repetitions of the idea with eyes open, then with eyes closed, than it is to strain to find

suitable thoughts.

W-pI.42.7. There is no limit on the number of short practice periods that would be

beneficial today. 2 The idea for the day is a beginning step in bringing thoughts together, and

teaching you that you are studying a unified thought system in which nothing is lacking that is

needed, and nothing is included that is contradictory or irrelevant.

W-pI.42.8. The more often you repeat the idea during the day, the more often you will

be reminding yourself that the goal of the course is important to you, and that you have

not forgotten it.

LESSON 43.

God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.

W-pI.43.1. Perception is not an attribute of God. 2 His is the realm of knowledge. 3

Yet He has created the Holy Spirit as the Mediator between perception and knowledge. 4

Without this link with God, perception would have replaced knowledge forever in your mind. 5

With this link with God, perception will become so changed and purified that it will lead

to knowledge. 6 That is its function as the Holy Spirit sees it. 7 Therefore, that is its

function in truth.

W-pI.43.2. In God you cannot see. 2 Perception has no function in God, and does not

exist. 3 Yet in salvation, which is the undoing of what never was, perception has a mighty

purpose. 4 Made by the Son of God for an unholy purpose, it must become the means for the

restoration of his holiness to his awareness. 5 Perception has no meaning. 6 Yet does the Holy

Spirit give it a meaning very close to God's. 7 Healed perception becomes the means by which

the Son of God forgives his brother, and thus forgives himself.

W-pI.43.3. You cannot see apart from God because you cannot be apart from God. 2

Whatever you do you do in Him, because whatever you think, you think with His Mind. 3 If vision

is real, and it is real to the extent to which it shares the Holy Spirit's purpose,

then you cannot see apart from God.

W-pI.43.4. Three five-minute practice periods are required today, one as early and one

as late as possible in the day. 2 The third may be undertaken at the most convenient and

suitable time that circumstances and readiness permit. 3 At the beginning of these practice

periods, repeat the idea for today to yourself with eyes open. 4 Then glance around you for a

short time, applying the idea specifically to what you see. 5 Four or five subjects for this

phase of the practice period are sufficient. 6 You might say, for example:

7 God is my Source. 8 I cannot see this desk apart from Him

9 God is my Source. 10 I cannot see that picture apart from Him.

W-pI.43.5. Although this part of the exercise period should be relatively short, be

sure that you select the subjects for this phase of practice indiscriminately, without

self-directed inclusion or exclusion. 2 For the second and longer phase, close your eyes, repeat

today's idea again, and then let whatever relevant thoughts occur to you add to the idea in

your own personal way. 3 Thoughts such as:

4 I see through the eyes of forgiveness

5 I see the world as blessed

6 The world can show me myself

7 I see my own thoughts, which are like God's.

8 Any thought related more or less directly to today's idea is suitable. 9 The thoughts

need not bear any obvious relationship to the idea, but they should not be in

opposition to it.

W-pI.43.6. If you find your mind wandering; if you begin to be aware of thoughts which

are clearly out of accord with today's idea, or if you seem to be unable to think of

anything, open your eyes, repeat the first phase of the exercise period, and then attempt the

second phase again. 2 Do not allow any protracted period to occur in which you become

preoccupied with irrelevant thoughts. 3 Return to the first phase of the exercises as often as

necessary to prevent this.

W-pI.43.7. In applying today's idea in the shorter practice periods, the form may vary

according to the circumstances and situations in which you find yourself during the day. 2 When

you are with someone else, for example, try to remember to tell him silently:

3 God is my Source. 4 I cannot see you apart from Him.

5 This form is equally applicable to strangers as it is to those you think are closer

to you. 6 In fact, try not to make distinctions of this kind at all.

W-pI.43.8. Today's idea should also be applied throughout the day to various situations

and events that may occur, particularly to those which seem to distress you in any way.

2 For this purpose, apply the idea in this form:

3 God is my Source. 4 I cannot see this apart from Him.

W-pI.43.9. If no particular subject presents itself to your awareness at the time,

merely repeat the idea in its original form. 2 Try today not to allow any long periods of

time to slip by without remembering today's idea, and thus remembering your function.

LESSON 44.

God is the light in which I see.

W-pI.44.1. Today we are continuing the idea for yesterday, adding another dimension to

it. 2 You cannot see in darkness, and you cannot make light. 3 You can make darkness and

then think you see in it, but light reflects life, and is therefore an aspect of creation.

4 Creation and darkness cannot coexist, but light and life must go together, being but

different aspects of creation.

W-pI.44.2. In order to see, you must recognize that light is within, not without. 2 You

do not see outside yourself, nor is the equipment for seeing outside you. 3 An

essential part of this equipment is the light that makes seeing possible. 4 It is with you

always, making vision possible in every circumstance.

W-pI.44.3. Today we are going to attempt to reach that light. 2 For this purpose, we

will use a form of exercise which has been suggested before, and which we will utilize

increasingly. 3 It is a particularly difficult form for the undisciplined mind, and represents a

major goal of mind training. 4 It requires precisely what the untrained mind lacks. 5 Yet

this training must be accomplished if you are to see.

W-pI.44.4. Have at least three practice periods today, each lasting three to five

minutes. 2 A longer time is highly recommended, but only if you find the time slipping by with

little or no sense of strain. 3 The form of practice we will use today is the most

natural and easy one in the world for the trained mind, just as it seems to be the most

unnatural and difficult for the untrained mind.

W-pI.44.5. Your mind is no longer wholly untrained. 2 You are quite ready to learn the

form of exercise we will use today, but you may find that you will encounter strong

resistance. 3 The reason is very simple. 4 While you practice in this way, you leave behind

everything that you now believe, and all the thoughts that you have made up. 5 Properly speaking,

this is the release from hell. 6 Yet perceived through the ego's eyes, it is loss of

identity and a descent into hell.

W-pI.44.6. If you can stand aside from the ego by ever so little, you will have no

difficulty in recognizing that its opposition and its fears are meaningless. 2 You might find it

helpful to remind yourself, from time to time, that to reach light is to escape from darkness,

whatever you may believe to the contrary. 3 God is the light in which you see. 4 You

are attempting to reach Him.

W-pI.44.7. Begin the practice period by repeating today's idea with your eyes open, and

close them slowly, repeating the idea several times more. 2 Then try to sink into your

mind, letting go every kind of interference and intrusion by quietly sinking past them. 3

Your mind cannot be stopped in this unless you choose to stop it. 4 It is merely taking its

natural course. 5 Try to observe your passing thoughts without involvement, and slip

quietly by them.

W-pI.44.8. While no particular approach is advocated for this form of exercise, what is

needful is a sense of the importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to

you, and an awareness that you are attempting something very holy. 2 Salvation is your

happiest accomplishment. 3 It is also the only one that has any meaning, because it is the only

one that has any real use to you at all.

W-pI.44.9. If resistance rises in any form, pause long enough to repeat today's idea,

keeping your eyes closed unless you are aware of fear. 2 In that case, you will probably find

it more reassuring to open your eyes briefly. 3 Try, however, to return to the exercises

with eyes closed as soon as possible.

W-pI.44.10. If you are doing the exercises correctly, you should experience some sense

of relaxation, and even a feeling that you are approaching, if not actually entering into

light. 2 Try to think of light, formless and without limit, as you pass by the thoughts

of this world. 3 And do not forget that they cannot hold you to the world unless you

give them the power to do so.

W-pI.44.11. Throughout the day repeat the idea often, with eyes open or closed as seems

better to you at the time. 2 But do not forget. 3 Above all, be determined not to

forget today.

LESSON 45.

God is the Mind with which I think.

W-pI.45.1. Today's idea holds the key to what your real thoughts are. 2 They are

nothing that you think you think, just as nothing that you think you see is related to vision

in any way. 3 There is no relationship between what is real and what you think is real. 4

Nothing that you think are your real thoughts resemble your real thoughts in any

respect. 5 Nothing that you think you see bears any resemblance to what vision will show you.

W-pI.45.2. You think with the Mind of God. 2 Therefore you share your thoughts with Him,

as He shares His with you. 3 They are the same thoughts, because they are thought by

the same Mind. 4 To share is to make alike, or to make one. 5 Nor do the thoughts you

think with the Mind of God leave your mind, because thoughts do not leave their source. 6

Therefore, your thoughts are in the Mind of God, as you are. 7 They are in your mind as well,

where He is. 8 As you are part of His Mind, so are your thoughts part of His Mind.

W-pI.45.3. Where, then, are your real thoughts? 2 Today we will attempt to reach them.

3 We will have to look for them in your mind, because that is where they are. 4 They

must still be there, because they cannot have left their source. 5 What is thought by the

Mind of God is eternal, being part of creation.

W-pI.45.4. Our three five-minute practice periods for today will take the same general

form that we used in applying yesterday's idea. 2 We will attempt to leave the unreal and

seek for the real. 3 We will deny the world in favor of truth. 4 We will not let the

thoughts of the world hold us back. 5 We will not let the beliefs of the world tell us that

what God would have us do is impossible. 6 Instead, we will try to recognize that only what

God would have us do is possible.

W-pI.45.5. We will also try to understand that only what God would have us do is what

we want to do. 2 And we will also try to remember that we cannot fail in doing what He

would have us do. 3 There is every reason to feel confident that we will succeed today. 4 It

is the Will of God.

W-pI.45.6. Begin the exercises for today by repeating the idea to yourself, closing

your eyes as you do so. 2 Then spend a fairly short period in thinking a few relevant

thoughts of your own, keeping the idea in mind. 3 After you have added some four or five

thoughts of your own to the idea, repeat it again and tell yourself gently:

4 My real thoughts are in my mind. 5 I would like to find them.

6 Then try to go past all the unreal thoughts that cover the truth in your mind, and

reach to the eternal.

W-pI.45.7. Under all the senseless thoughts and mad ideas with which you have cluttered

up your mind are the thoughts that you thought with God in the beginning. 2 They are

there in your mind now, completely unchanged. 3 They will always be in your mind, exactly as

they always were. 4 Everything you have thought since then will change, but the

Foundation on which it rests is wholly changeless.

W-pI.45.8. It is this Foundation toward which the exercises for today are directed. 2

Here is your mind joined with the Mind of God. 3 Here are your thoughts one with His. 4 For

this kind of practice only one thing is necessary; approach it as you would an altar

dedicated in Heaven to God the Father and to God the Son. 5 For such is the place you are trying

to reach. 6 You will probably be unable as yet to realize how high you are trying to go.

7 Yet even with the little understanding you have already gained, you should be able

to remind yourself that this is no idle game, but an exercise in holiness and an attempt

to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

W-pI.45.9. In the shorter exercise periods for today, try to remember how important it

is to you to understand the holiness of the mind that thinks with God. 2 Take a minute or

two, as you repeat the idea throughout the day, to appreciate your mind's holiness. 3

Stand aside, however briefly, from all thoughts that are unworthy of Him Whose host you are.

4 And thank Him for the Thoughts He is thinking with you.

LESSON 46.

God is the Love in which I forgive.

W-pI.46.1. God does not forgive because He has never condemned. 2 And there must be

condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. 3 Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but

that is because it is a world of illusions. 4 Those who forgive are thus releasing

themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. 5

As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.

W-pI.46.2. Yet although God does not forgive, His Love is nevertheless the basis of

forgiveness. 2 Fear condemns and love forgives. 3 Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced,

returning the mind to the awareness of God. 4 For this reason, forgiveness can truly be called

salvation. 5 It is the means by which illusions disappear.

W-pI.46.3. Today's exercises require at least three full five-minute practice periods,

and as many shorter ones as possible. 2 Begin the longer practice periods by repeating

today's idea to yourself, as usual. 3 Close your eyes as you do so, and spend a minute or two

in searching your mind for those whom you have not forgiven. 4 It does not matter "how

much" you have not forgiven them. 5 You have forgiven them entirely or not at all.

W-pI.46.4. If you are doing the exercises well you should have no difficulty in finding

a number of people you have not forgiven. 2 It is a safe rule that anyone you do not

like is a suitable subject. 3 Mention each one by name, and say:

4 God is the Love in which I forgive you, [name].

W-pI.46.5. The purpose of the first phase of today's practice periods is to put you in

a position to forgive yourself. 2 After you have applied the idea to all those who have

come to mind, tell yourself:

3 God is the Love in which I forgive myself.

4 Then devote the remainder of the practice period to adding related ideas such as:

5 God is the Love with which I love myself

6 God is the Love in which I am blessed.

W-pI.46.6. The form of the application may vary considerably, but the central idea

should not be lost sight of. 2 You might say, for example:

3 I cannot be guilty because I am a Son of God.

4 I have already been forgiven.

5 No fear is possible in a mind beloved of God.

6 There is no need to attack because love has forgiven me.

7 The practice period should end, however, with a repetition of today's idea as

originally stated.

W-pI.46.7. The shorter practice periods may consist either of a repetition of the idea

for today in the original or in a related form, as you prefer. 2 Be sure, however, to make

more specific applications if they are needed. 3 They will be needed at any time during

the day when you become aware of any kind of negative reaction to anyone, present or

not. 4 In that event, tell him silently:

5 God is the Love in which I forgive you.

LESSON 47.

God is the strength in which I trust.

W-pI.47.1. If you are trusting in your own strength, you have every reason to be

apprehensive, anxious and fearful. 2 What can you predict or control? 3 What is there in you that

can be counted on? 4 What would give you the ability to be aware of all the facets of any

problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? 5 What is there in

you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will

be accomplished?

W-pI.47.2. Of yourself you can do none of these things. 2 To believe that you can is to

put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression,

anger and sorrow. 3 Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? 4 Yet who can put his

faith in strength and feel weak?

W-pI.47.3. God is your safety in every circumstance. 2 His Voice speaks for Him in all

situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His

strength and His protection. 3 There are no exceptions because God has no exceptions. 4

And the Voice which speaks for Him thinks as He does.

W-pI.47.4. Today we will try to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real

strength. 2 Four five-minute practice periods are necessary today, and longer and more frequent

ones are urged. 3 Close your eyes and begin, as usual, by repeating the idea for the

day. 4 Then spend a minute or two in searching for situations in your life which you have

invested with fear, dismissing each one by telling yourself:

5 God is the strength in which I trust.

W-pI.47.5. Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. 2

It is obvious that any situation that causes you concern is associated with feelings of

inadequacy, for otherwise you would believe that you could deal with the situation

successfully. 3 It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence. 4 But the strength of

God in you is successful in all things.

W-pI.47.6. The recognition of your own frailty is a necessary step in the correction of

your errors, but it is hardly a sufficient one in giving you the confidence which you

need, and to which you are entitled. 2 You must also gain an awareness that confidence in

your real strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances.

W-pI.47.7. In the latter phase of the practice period, try to reach down into your mind

to a place of real safety. 2 You will recognize that you have reached it if you feel a

sense of deep peace, however briefly. 3 Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble

on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven. 4

There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. 5 There is a place in you where

nothing is impossible. 6 There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.

W-pI.47.8. During the day, repeat the idea often. 2 Use it as your answer to any

disturbance. 3 Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the

strength of God.

LESSON 48.

There is nothing to fear.

W-pI.48.1. The idea for today simply states a fact. 2 It is not a fact to those who

believe in illusions, but illusions are not facts. 3 In truth there is nothing to fear. 4 It

is very easy to recognize this. 5 But it is very difficult to recognize it for those who

want illusions to be true.

W-pI.48.2. Today's practice periods will be very short, very simple and very frequent.

2 Merely repeat the idea as often as possible. 3 You can use it with your eyes open at

any time and in any situation. 4 It is strongly recommended, however, that you take a

minute or so whenever possible to close your eyes and repeat the idea slowly to yourself

several times. 5 It is particularly important that you use the idea immediately, should

anything disturb your peace of mind.

W-pI.48.3. The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own

strength. 2 The awareness that there is nothing to fear 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 The instant you are willing to do this there is

indeed nothing to fear.

LESSON 49.

God's Voice speaks to me all through the day.

W-pI.49.1. It is quite possible to listen to God's Voice all through the day without

interrupting your regular activities in any way. 2 The part of your mind in which truth abides is

in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not. 3 It is the other

part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world's laws. 4 It is this

part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.

W-pI.49.2. The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and

wholly certain. 2 It is really the only part there is. 3 The other part is a wild illusion,

frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind. 4 Try today not to listen to it. 5

Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and peace reign forever. 6 Try

to hear God's Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not

forgotten His Son.

W-pI.49.3. We will need at least four five-minute practice periods today, and more if

possible. 2 We will try actually to hear God's Voice reminding you of Him and of your Self. 3

We will approach this happiest and holiest of thoughts with confidence, knowing that in

doing so we are joining our will with the Will of God. 4 He wants you to hear His Voice. 5

He gave It to you to be heard.

W-pI.49.4. Listen in deep silence. 2 Be very still and open your mind. 3 Go past all

the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure your

eternal link with God. 4 Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic,

riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world. 5 You do not live here. 6 We are

trying to reach your real home. 7 We are trying to reach the place where you are truly

welcome. 8 We are trying to reach God.

W-pI.49.5. Do not forget to repeat today's idea very frequently. 2 Do so with your eyes

open when necessary, but closed when possible. 3 And be sure to sit quietly and repeat

the idea for today whenever you can, closing your eyes on the world, and realizing that

you are inviting God's Voice to speak to you.

LESSON 50.

I am sustained by the Love of God.

W-pI.50.1. Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and

tomorrow and throughout time. 2 In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but

God. 3 Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money, "

protective" clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the "right" people, and an

endless list of forms of nothingness that you endow with magical powers.

W-pI.50.2. All these things are your replacements for the Love of God. 2 All these

things are cherished to ensure a body identification. 3 They are songs of praise to the ego.

4 Do not put your faith in the worthless. 5 It will not sustain you.

W-pI.50.3. Only the Love of God will protect you in all circumstances. 2 It will lift

you out of every trial, and raise you high above all the perceived dangers of this world

into a climate of perfect peace and safety. 3 It will 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.

W-pI.50.4. Put not your faith in illusions. 2 They will fail you. 3 Put all your faith

in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing. 4 This is the

answer to whatever confronts you today. 5 Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve

all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence. 6 Tell yourself this

often today. 7 It is a declaration of release from the belief in idols. 8 It is your

acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.

W-pI.50.5. For ten minutes, twice today, morning and evening, let the idea for today

sink deep into your consciousness. 2 Repeat it, think about it, let related thoughts come

to help you recognize its truth, and allow peace to flow over you like a blanket of

protection and surety. 3 Let no idle and foolish thoughts enter to disturb the holy mind of the

Son of God. 4 Such is the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 Such is the resting place where your Father

has placed you forever.

REVIEW I

Introduction

W-pI.rI.in.1. Beginning with today we will have a series of review periods. 2 Each of

them will cover five of the ideas already presented, starting with the first and ending

with the fiftieth. 3 There will be a few short comments after each of the ideas, which you

should consider in your review. 4 In the practice periods, the exercises should be done as

follows:

W-pI.rI.in.2. Begin the day by reading the five ideas, with the comments included. 2

Thereafter, it is not necessary to follow any particular order in considering them, though each

one should be practiced at least once. 3 Devote two minutes or more to each practice

period, thinking about the idea and the related comments after reading them over. 4 Do this

as often as possible during the day. 5 If any one of the five ideas appeals to you more

than the others, concentrate on that one. 6 At the end of the day, however, be sure to

review all of them once more.

W-pI.rI.in.3. It is not necessary to cover the comments that follow each idea either

literally or thoroughly in the practice periods. 2 Try, rather, to emphasize the central point,

and think about it as part of your review of the idea to which it relates. 3 After you

have read the idea and the related comments, the exercises should be done with your eyes

closed and when you are alone in a quiet place, if possible.

W-pI.rI.in.4. This is emphasized for practice periods at your stage of learning. 2 It

will be necessary, however, that you learn to require no special settings in which to apply

what you have learned. 3 You will need your learning most in situations that appear to

be upsetting, rather than in those that already seem to be calm and quiet. 4 The purpose

of your learning is to enable you to bring the quiet with you, and to heal distress and

turmoil. 5 This is not done by avoiding them and seeking a haven of isolation for yourself.

W-pI.rI.in.5. You will yet learn that peace is part of you, and requires only that you

be there to embrace any situation in which you are. 2 And finally you will learn that

there is no limit to where you are, so that your peace is everywhere, as you are.

W-pI.rI.in.6. You will note that, for review purposes, some of the ideas are not given

in quite their original form. 2 Use them as they are given here. 3 It is not necessary to

return to the original statements, nor to apply the ideas as was suggested then. 4 We

are now emphasizing the relationships among the first fifty of the ideas we have covered,

and the cohesiveness of the thought system to which they are leading you.

LESSON 51.

The review for today covers the following ideas:

W-pI.51.1. (1) Nothing I see means anything.

2 The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning. 3 It is

necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see. 4 What I think I see now is taking the

place of vision. 5 I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may

take its place.

W-pI.51.2. (2) I have given what I see all the meaning it has for me. 2 I have judged

everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see. 3 This is not vision. 4 It is merely

an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality. 5 I

am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see. 6

My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.

W-pI.51.3. (3) I do not understand anything I see. 2 How could I understand what I see

when I have judged it amiss? 3 What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought. 4

I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable. 5 There is no sense in

trying to understand it. 6 But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can

be seen and understood and loved. 7 I can exchange what I see now for this merely by

being willing to do so. 8 Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?

W-pI.51.4. (4) These thoughts do not mean anything.

2 The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think

without God. 3 What I call "my" thoughts are not my real thoughts. 4 My real thoughts are the

thoughts I think with God. 5 I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take

their place. 6 I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let

them go. 7 I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace. 8 My

thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.

W-pI.51.5. (5) I am never upset for the reason I think.

2 I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my

thoughts. 3 I am constantly trying to make them true. 4 I make all things my enemies, so that

my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted. 5 I have not realized how much I have

misused everything I see by assigning this role to it. 6 I have done this to defend a

thought system that has hurt me, and that I no longer want. 7 I am willing to let it go.

LESSON 52.

Today's review covers these ideas:

W-pI.52.1. (6) I am upset because I see what is not there.

2 Reality is never frightening. 3 It is impossible that it could upset me. 4 Reality

brings only perfect peace. 5 When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality

with illusions I made up. 6 The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality,

and thus regard reality as an illusion. 7 Nothing in God's creation is affected in any way

by this confusion of mine. 8 I am always upset by nothing.

W-pI.52.2. (7) I see only the past.

2 As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon. 3 I call this seeing. 4 I hold the

past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies. 5 When I have forgiven myself

and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see. 6 There will be no

past, and therefore no enemies. 7 And I will look with love on all that I failed to see

before.

W-pI.52.3. (8) My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

2 I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past. 3 What, then,

can I see as it is? 4 Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from

dawning on my mind. 5 Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God. 6 Let me

learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.

W-pI.52.4. (9) I see nothing as it is now.

2 If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing. 3 I can see

only what is now. 4 The choice is not whether to see the past or the present; the choice is

merely whether to see or not. 5 What I have chosen to see has cost me vision. 6 Now I

would choose again, that I may see.

W-pI.52.5. (10) My thoughts do not mean anything.

2 I have no private thoughts. 3 Yet it is only private thoughts of which I am aware. 4

What can these thoughts mean? 5 They do not exist, and so they mean nothing. 6 Yet my mind

is part of creation and part of its Creator. 7 Would I not rather join the thinking of

the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless "

private" thoughts?

LESSON 53.

Today we will review the following:

W-pI.53.1. (11) My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

2 Since the thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything, the world that pictures

them can have no meaning. 3 What is producing this world is insane, and so is what it

produces. 4 Reality is not insane, and I have real thoughts as well as insane ones. 5 I can

therefore see a real world, if I look to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.

W-pI.53.2. (12) I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

2 Insane thoughts are upsetting. 3 They produce a world in which there is no order

anywhere. 4 Only chaos rules a world that represents chaotic thinking, and chaos has no laws. 5

I cannot live in peace in such a world. 6 I am grateful that this world is not real,

and that I need not see it at all unless I choose to value it. 7 And I do not choose to

value what is totally insane and has no meaning.

W-pI.53.3. (13) A meaningless world engenders fear.

2 The totally insane engenders fear because it is completely undependable, and offers

no grounds for trust. 3 Nothing in madness is dependable. 4 It holds out no safety and no

hope. 5 But such a world is not real. 6 I have given it the illusion of reality, and

have suffered from my belief in it. 7 Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my

trust in reality. 8 In choosing this, I will escape all the effects of the world of fear,

because I am acknowledging that it does not exist.

W-pI.53.4. (14) God did not create a meaningless world.

2 How can a meaningless world exist if God did not create it? 3 He is the Source of all

meaning, and everything that is real is in His Mind. 4 It is in my mind too, because He

created it with me. 5 Why should I continue to suffer from the effects of my own insane

thoughts, when the perfection of creation is my home? 6 Let me remember the power of my

decision, and recognize where I really abide.

W-pI.53.5. (15) My thoughts are images that I have made.

2 Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. 3 It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and

what I am. 4 The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death

shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing

my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. 5 Yet God's way is sure.

6 The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they

do so. 7 My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.

LESSON 54.

These are the review ideas for today:

W-pI.54.1. (16) I have no neutral thoughts.

2 Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power. 3 They will either

make a false world or lead me to the real one. 4 But thoughts cannot be without effects. 5

As the world I see arises from my thinking errors, so will the real world rise before my

eyes as I let my errors be corrected. 6 My thoughts cannot be neither true nor false. 7

They must be one or the other. 8 What I see shows me which they are.

W-pI.54.2. (17) I see no neutral things.

2 What I see witnesses to what I think. 3 If I did not think I would not exist, because

life is thought. 4 Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state

of mind. 5 I know that my state of mind can change. 6 And so I also know the world I

see can change as well.

W-pI.54.3. (18) I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

2 If I have no private thoughts, I cannot see a private world. 3 Even the mad idea of

separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world I see. 4 Yet that sharing

was a sharing of nothing. 5 I can also call upon my real thoughts, which share

everything with everyone. 6 As my thoughts of separation call to the separation thoughts of

others, so my real thoughts awaken the real thoughts in them. 7 And the world my real

thoughts show me will dawn on their sight as well as mine.

W-pI.54.4. (19) I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

2 I am alone in nothing. 3 Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe. 4

A Son of God cannot think or speak or act in vain. 5 He cannot be alone in anything. 6

It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power

of God.

W-pI.54.5. (20) I am determined to see. 2 Recognizing the shared nature of my thoughts,

I am determined to see. 3 I would look upon the witnesses that show me the thinking of

the world has been changed. 4 I would behold the proof that what has been done through me

has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss.

5 I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of

God are one.

LESSON 55.

Today's review includes the following:

W-pI.55.1. (21) I am determined to see things differently.

2 What I see now are but signs of disease, disaster and death. 3 This cannot be what

God created for His beloved Son. 4 The very fact that I see such things is proof that I do

not understand God. 5 Therefore I also do not understand His Son. 6 What I see tells me

that I do not know who I am. 7 I am determined to see the witnesses to the truth in me,

rather than those which show me an illusion of myself.

W-pI.55.2. (22) What I see is a form of vengeance.

2 The world I see is hardly the representation of loving thoughts. 3 It is a picture of

attack on everything by everything. 4 It is anything but a reflection of the Love of

God and the love of His Son. 5 It is my own attack thoughts that give rise to this picture.

6 My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world, and give me the

peace God intended me to have.

W-pI.55.3. (23) I can escape from this world by giving up attack thoughts.

2 Herein lies salvation, and nowhere else. 3 Without attack thoughts I could not see a

world of attack. 4 As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness, I will see a world

of peace and safety and joy. 5 And it is this I choose to see, in place of what I look on

now.

W-pI.55.4. (24) I do not perceive my own best interests.

2 How could I recognize my own best interests when I do not know who I am? 3 What I

think are my best interests would merely bind me closer to the world of illusions. 4 I am

willing to follow the Guide God has given me to find out what my own best interests are,

recognizing that I cannot perceive them by myself.

W-pI.55.5. (25) I do not know what anything is for.

2 To me, the purpose of everything is to prove that my illusions about myself are real.

3 It is for this purpose that I attempt to use everyone and everything. 4 It is for

this that I believe the world is for. 5 Therefore I do not recognize its real purpose. 6

The purpose I have given the world has led to a frightening picture of it. 7 Let me open

my mind to the world's real purpose by withdrawing the one I have given it, and learning

the truth about it.

LESSON 56.

Our review for today covers the following:

W-pI.56.1. (26) My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

2 How can I know who I am when I see myself as under constant attack? 3 Pain, illness,

loss, age and death seem to threaten me. 4 All my hopes and wishes and plans appear to be

at the mercy of a world I cannot control. 5 Yet perfect security and complete fulfillment

are my inheritance. 6 I have tried to give my inheritance away in exchange for the

world I see. 7 But God has kept my inheritance safe for me. 8 My own real thoughts will

teach me what it is.

W-pI.56.2. (27) Above all else I want to see.

2 Recognizing that what I see reflects what I think I am, I realize that vision is my

greatest need. 3 The world I see attests to the fearful nature of the self-image I have made. 4

If I would remember who I am, it is essential that I let this image of myself go. 5 As

it is replaced by truth, vision will surely be given me. 6 And with this vision, I will

look upon the world and on myself with charity and love.

W-pI.56.3. (28) Above all else I want to see differently.

2 The world I see holds my fearful self-image in place, and guarantees its continuance.

3 While I see the world as I see it now, truth cannot enter my awareness. 4 I would let

the door behind this world be opened for me, that I may look past it to the world that

reflects the Love of God.

W-pI.56.4. (29) God is in everything I see.

2 Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged. 3 Behind every veil I

have drawn across the face of love, its light remains undimmed. 4 Beyond all my insane

wishes is my will, united with the Will of my Father. 5 God is still everywhere and in

everything forever. 6 And we who are part of Him will yet look past all appearances, and

recognize the truth beyond them all.

W-pI.56.5. (30) God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

2 In my own mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation and attack, is the

knowledge that all is one forever. 3 I have not lost the knowledge of Who I am because I have

forgotten it. 4 It has been kept for me in the Mind of God, Who has not left His Thoughts. 5 And

I, who am among them, am one with them and one with Him.

LESSON 57.

Today let us review these ideas:

W-pI.57.1. (31) I am not the victim of the world I see.

2 How can I be the victim of a world that can be completely undone if I so choose? 3 My

chains are loosened. 4 I can drop them off merely by desiring to do so. 5 The prison

door is open. 6 I can leave simply by walking out. 7 Nothing holds me in this world. 8 Only

my wish to stay keeps me a prisoner. 9 I would give up my insane wishes and walk into

the sunlight at last.

W-pI.57.2. (32) I have invented the world I see.

2 I made up the prison in which I see myself. 3 All I need do is recognize this and I

am free. 4 I have deluded myself into believing it is possible to imprison the Son of God.

5 I was bitterly mistaken in this belief, which I no longer want. 6 The Son of God

must be forever free. 7 He is as God created him, and not what I would make of him. 8 He is

where God would have him be, and not where I thought to hold him prisoner.

W-pI.57.3. (33) There is another way of looking at the world.

2 Since the purpose of the world is not the one I ascribed to it, there must be another

way of looking at it. 3 I see everything upside down, and my thoughts are the opposite

of truth. 4 I see the world as a prison for God's Son. 5 It must be, then, that the world

is really a place where he can be set free. 6 I would look upon the world as it is, and

see it as a place where the Son of God finds his freedom.

W-pI.57.4. (34) I could see peace instead of this.

2 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. 3 I will understand that peace, not war,

abides in it. 4 And I will perceive that peace also abides in the hearts of all who

share this place with me.

W-pI.57.5. (35) My mind is part of God's. 2 I am very holy.

3 As I share the peace of the world with my brothers, I begin to understand that this

peace comes from deep within myself. 4 The world I look upon has taken on the light of my

forgiveness, and shines forgiveness back at me. 5 In this light I begin to see what my illusions

about myself kept hidden. 6 I begin to understand the holiness of all living things,

including myself, and their oneness with me.

LESSON 58.

These ideas are for review today:

W-pI.58.1. (36) My holiness envelops everything I see.

2 From my holiness does the perception of the real world come. 3 Having forgiven, I no

longer see myself as guilty. 4 I can accept the innocence that is the truth about me. 5 Seen

through understanding eyes, the holiness of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the

thoughts I hold about myself.

W-pI.58.2. (37) My holiness blesses the world.

2 The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. 3 Everyone and everything I

see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. 4 There is nothing that is apart from

this joy, because there is nothing that does not share my holiness. 5 As I recognize my

holiness, so does the holiness of the world shine forth for everyone to see.

W-pI.58.3. (38) There is nothing my holiness cannot do.

2 My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power

to save. 3 What is there to be saved from except illusions? 4 And what are all illusions

except false ideas about myself? 5 My holiness undoes them all by asserting the truth about

me. 6 In the presence of my holiness, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.

W-pI.58.4. (39) My holiness is my salvation. 2 Since my holiness saves me from all

guilt, recognizing my holiness is recognizing my salvation. 3 It is also recognizing the

salvation of the world. 4 Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. 5 And

because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to me

and to the world.

W-pI.58.5. (40) I am blessed as a Son of God.

2 Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. 3 I am blessed as a Son of God. 4 All

good things are mine, because God intended them for me. 5 I cannot suffer any loss or

deprivation or pain because of Who I am. 6 My Father supports me, protects me, and directs me in

all things. 7 His care for me is infinite, and is with me forever. 8 I am eternally

blessed as His Son.

LESSON 59.

The following ideas are for review today:

W-pI.59.1. (41) God goes with me wherever I go.

2 How can I be alone when God always goes with me? 3 How can I be doubtful and unsure

of myself when perfect certainty abides in Him? 4 How can I be disturbed by anything when

He rests in me in absolute peace? 5 How can I suffer when love and joy surround me

through Him? 6 Let me not cherish illusions about myself. 7 I am perfect because God goes with

me wherever I go.

W-pI.59.2. (42) God is my strength. 2 Vision is His gift.

3 Let me not look to my own eyes to see today. 4 Let me be willing to exchange my

pitiful illusion of seeing for the vision that is given by God. 5 Christ's vision is His gift,

and He has given it to me. 6 Let me call upon this gift today, so that this day may

help me to understand eternity.

W-pI.59.3. (43) God is my Source. 2 I cannot see apart from Him.

3 I can see what God wants me to see. 4 I cannot see anything else. 5 Beyond His Will

lie only illusions. 6 It is these I choose when I think I can see apart from Him. 7 It is

these I choose when I try to see through the body's eyes. 8 Yet the vision of Christ has

been given me to replace them. 9 It is through this vision that I choose to see.

W-pI.59.4. (44) God is the light in which I see.

2 I cannot see in darkness. 3 God is the only light. 4 Therefore, if I am to see, it

must be through Him. 5 I have tried to define what seeing is, and I have been wrong. 6 Now

it is given me to understand that God is the light in which I see. 7 Let me welcome

vision and the happy world it will show me.

W-pI.59.5. (45) God is the Mind with which I think.

2 I have no thoughts I do not share with God. 3 I have no thoughts apart from Him,

because I have no mind apart from His. 4 As part of His Mind, my thoughts are His and His

Thoughts are mine.

LESSON 60.

These ideas are for today's review:

W-pI.60.1. (46) God is the Love in which I forgive.

2 God does not forgive because He has never condemned. 3 The blameless cannot blame,

and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. 4 Yet forgiveness is

the means by which I will recognize my innocence. 5 It is the reflection of God's Love on

earth. 6 It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me

and raise me up to Him.

W-pI.60.2. (47) God is the strength in which I trust.

2 It is not my own strength through which I forgive. 3 It is through the strength of

God in me, which I am remembering as I forgive. 4 As I begin to see, I recognize His

reflection on earth. 5 I forgive all things because I feel the stirring of His strength in me. 6

And I begin to remember the Love I chose to forget, but which has not forgotten me.

W-pI.60.3. (48) There is nothing to fear.

2 How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! 3 It will not look anything

like what I imagine I see now. 4 Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me to bless

me. 5 I will recognize in everyone my dearest Friend. 6 What could there be to fear in

a world that I have forgiven, and that has forgiven me?

W-pI.60.4. (49) God's Voice speaks to me all through the day.

2 There is not a moment in which God's Voice ceases to call on my forgiveness to save

me. 3 There is not a moment in which His Voice fails to direct my thoughts, guide my

actions and lead my feet. 4 I am walking steadily on toward truth. 5 There 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.

W-pI.60.5. (50) I am sustained by the Love of God.

2 As I listen to God's Voice, I am sustained by His Love. 3 As I open my eyes, His Love

lights up the world for me to see. 4 As I forgive, His Love reminds me that His Son is

sinless. 5 And as I look upon the world with the vision He has given me, I remember that I am

His Son.

LESSON 61.

I am the light of the world.

W-pI.61.1. Who is the light of the world except God's Son? 2 This, then, is merely a

statement of the truth about yourself. 3 It is the opposite of a statement of pride, of

arrogance, or of self-deception. 4 It does not describe the self-concept you have made. 5 It

does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you have endowed your idols. 6 It

refers to you as you were created by God. 7 It simply states the truth.

W-pI.61.2. To the ego, today's idea is the epitome of self-glorification. 2 But the ego

does not understand humility, mistaking it for self-debasement. 3 Humility consists of

accepting your role in salvation and in taking no other. 4 It is not humility to insist you

cannot be the light of the world if that is the function God assigned to you. 5 It is only

arrogance that would assert this function cannot be for you, and arrogance is always of the ego.

W-pI.61.3. True humility requires that you accept today's idea because it is God's

Voice which tells you it is true. 2 This is a beginning step in accepting your real function

on earth. 3 It is a giant stride toward taking your rightful place in salvation. 4 It

is a positive assertion of your right to be saved, and an acknowledgment of the power

that is given you to save others.

W-pI.61.4. You will want to think about this idea as often as possible today. 2 It is

the perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation. 3 It brings all the

images you have made about yourself to the truth, and helps you depart in peace, unburdened

and certain of your purpose.

W-pI.61.5. As many practice periods as possible should be undertaken today, although

each one need not exceed a minute or two. 2 They should begin with telling yourself:

3 I am the light of the world. 4 That is my only function. 5 That is why I am here.

6 Then think about these statements for a short while, preferably with your eyes closed

if the situation permits. 7 Let a few related thoughts come to you, and repeat the idea

to yourself if your mind wanders away from the central thought.

W-pI.61.6. Be sure both to begin and end the day with a practice period. 2 Thus 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. 3

These two practice periods may be longer than the rest, if you find them helpful and want to

extend them.

W-pI.61.7. Today's idea goes far beyond the ego's petty views of what you are and what

your purpose is. 2 As a bringer of salvation, this is obviously necessary. 3 This is the

first of a number of giant steps we will take in the next few weeks. 4 Try today to begin to

build a firm foundation for these advances. 5 You are the light of the world. 6 God has

built His plan for the salvation of His Son on you.

LESSON 62.

Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.

W-pI.62.1. It is your forgiveness that will bring the world of darkness to the light. 2

It is your forgiveness that lets you recognize the light in which you see. 3

Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. 4 Through your forgiveness

does the truth about yourself return to your memory. 5 Therefore, in your forgiveness lies

your salvation.

W-pI.62.2. Illusions about yourself and the world are one. 2 That is why all

forgiveness is a gift to yourself. 3 Your goal is to find out who you are, having denied your

Identity by attacking creation and its Creator. 4 Now you are learning how to remember the

truth. 5 For this attack must be replaced by forgiveness, so that thoughts of life may

replace thoughts of death.

W-pI.62.3. 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. 2 Do you not then begin to

understand what forgiveness will do for you? 3 It will remove all sense of weakness, strain and

fatigue from your mind. 4 It will take away all fear and guilt and pain. 5 It will restore the

invulnerability and power God gave His Son to your awareness.

W-pI.62.4. 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. 2 It will help to make the day as

happy for you as God wants you to be. 3 And 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.

W-pI.62.5. As often as you can, closing your eyes if possible, say to yourself today:

2 Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world. 3 I would fulfill my function

that I may be happy.

4 Then devote a minute or two to considering your function and the happiness and

release it will bring you. 5 Let related thoughts come freely, for your heart will recognize

these words, and in your mind is the awareness they are true. 6 Should your attention wander,

repeat the idea and add:

7 I would remember this because I want to be happy.

LESSON 63.

The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.

W-pI.63.1. How holy are you who have the power to bring peace to every mind! 2 How

blessed are you who can learn to recognize the means for letting this be done through you! 3

What purpose could you have that would bring you greater happiness?

W-pI.63.2. You are indeed the light of the world with such a function. 2 The Son of God

looks to you for his redemption. 3 It is yours to give him, for it belongs to you. 4

Accept no trivial purpose or meaningless desire in its place, or you will forget your

function and leave the Son of God in hell. 5 This is no idle request that is being asked of you.

6 You are being asked to accept salvation that it may be yours to give.

W-pI.63.3. Recognizing the importance of this function, we will be happy to remember it

very often today. 2 We will begin the day by acknowledging it, and close the day with

the thought of it in our awareness. 3 And throughout the day we will repeat this as often

as we can:

4 The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness. 5 I am the

means God has appointed for the salvation of the world.

W-pI.63.4. 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. 2 Do not,

however, wait for such an opportunity. 3 No chance should be lost for reinforcing

today's idea. 4 Remember that God's Son looks to you for his salvation. 5 And Who but your

Self must be His Son?

LESSON 64.

Let me not forget my function.

W-pI.64.1. Today's idea is merely another way of saying "Let me not wander into

temptation." 2 The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and

provide you with a justification for forgetting it. 3 It is the temptation to abandon God and

His Son by taking on a physical appearance. 4 It is this the body's eyes look upon.

W-pI.64.2. 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. 2 Yet 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. 3 To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive

yourself what you think of as your sins. 4 In this perception, the physical appearance of

temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.

W-pI.64.3. To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the

world, a function given you by God. 2 It 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. 3 The world's salvation awaits your

forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all

temptation. 4 The Son of God is you.

W-pI.64.4. Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. 2 That

is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes

inevitable. 3 There is no other way. 4 Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill

your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy.

W-pI.64.5. Let us remember this today. 2 Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning

and again at night, and all through the day as well. 3 Prepare yourself in advance for all

the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. 4

Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. 5 Can such a simple decision really be

difficult to make? 6 Let not the form of the decision deceive you. 7 Complexity of form does not

imply complexity of content. 8 It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a

content different from just this one simple choice. 9 That is the only choice the Holy Spirit

sees. 10 Therefore it is the only choice there is.

W-pI.64.6. Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts:

2 Let me not forget my function.

3 Let me not try to substitute mine for God's.

4 Let me forgive and be happy.

5 At least once devote ten or fifteen minutes today to reflecting on this with closed

eyes. 6 Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of

your function to you and to the world.

W-pI.64.7. 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. 2 This will be difficult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the

mind discipline that it requires. 3 You may need to repeat "Let me not forget my function"

quite often to help you concentrate.

W-pI.64.8. Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. 2 At times, do the

exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using. 3 At other

times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and then look slowly and

unselectively around you, telling yourself:

4 This is the world it is my function to save.

LESSON 65.

My only function is the one God gave me.

W-pI.65.1. The idea for today reaffirms your commitment to salvation. 2 It also reminds

you that you have no function other than that. 3 Both these thoughts are obviously

necessary for a total commitment. 4 Salvation cannot be the only purpose you hold while you

still cherish others. 5 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.

W-pI.65.2. This is the only way in which you can take your rightful place among the

saviors of the world. 2 This is the only way in which you can say and mean, "My only function

is the one God gave me." 3 This is the only way in which you can find peace of mind.

W-pI.65.3. 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. 2 Today's idea offers you escape from all your perceived

difficulties. 3 It places the key to the door of peace, which you have closed upon yourself, in

your own hands. 4 It gives you the answer to all the searching you have done since time

began.

W-pI.65.4. Try, if possible, to undertake the daily extended practice periods at

approximately the same time each day. 2 Try, also, to determine this time in advance, and then

adhere to it as closely as possible. 3 The 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. 4 This 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.

W-pI.65.5. For the longer practice period, begin by reviewing the idea for the day. 2

Then close your eyes, repeat the idea to yourself once again, and watch your mind carefully

to catch whatever thoughts cross it. 3 At first, make no attempt to concentrate only on

thoughts related to the idea for the day. 4 Rather, try to uncover each thought that

arises to interfere with it. 5 Note each one as it comes to you, with as little involvement

or concern as possible, dismissing each one by telling yourself:

6 This thought reflects a goal that is preventing me from accepting my only function.

W-pI.65.6. After a while, interfering thoughts will become harder to find. 2 Try,

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. 3

Then tell yourself:

4 On this clean slate let my true function be written for me.

5 You 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.

W-pI.65.7. 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.

W-pI.65.8. In the shorter practice periods, which should be undertaken at least once an

hour, use this form in applying today's idea:

2 My only function is the one God gave me. 3 I want no other and I have no other.

4 Sometimes close your eyes as you practice this, and sometimes keep them open and look

about you. 5 It is what you see now that will be totally changed when you accept

today's idea completely.

LESSON 66.

My happiness and my function are one.

W-pI.66.1. You have surely noticed an emphasis throughout our recent lessons on the

connection between fulfilling your function and achieving happiness. 2 This is because you do not

really see the connection. 3 Yet there is more than just a connection between them;

they are the same. 4 Their forms are different, but their content is completely one.

W-pI.66.2. The ego does constant battle with the Holy Spirit on the fundamental

question of what your function is. 2 So does it do constant battle with the Holy Spirit about

what your happiness is. 3 It is not a two-way battle. 4 The ego attacks and the Holy Spirit

does not respond. 5 He knows what your function is. 6 He knows that it is your

happiness.

W-pI.66.3. Today we will try to go past this wholly meaningless battle and arrive at

the truth about your function. 2 We will not engage in senseless arguments about what it

is. 3 We will not become hopelessly involved in defining happiness and determining the

means for achieving it. 4 We will not indulge the ego by listening to its attacks on truth.

5 We will merely be glad that we can find out what truth is.

W-pI.66.4. 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. 2 God gives you only happiness. 3

Therefore, the function He gave you must be happiness, even if it appears to be different. 4

Today's exercises are an attempt to go beyond these differences in appearance, and recognize a

common content where it exists in truth.

W-pI.66.5. Begin the ten-to-fifteen-minute practice period by reviewing these thoughts:

2 God gives me only happiness.

3 He has given my function to me.

4 Therefore my function must be happiness.

5 Try to see the logic in this sequence, even if you do not yet accept the conclusion.

6 It is only if the first two thoughts are wrong that the conclusion could be false. 7

Let us, then, think about the premises for a while, as we are practicing.

W-pI.66.6. The first premise is that God gives you only happiness. 2 This could be

false, of course, but in order to be false it is necessary to define God as something He is

not. 3 Love cannot give evil, and what is not happiness is evil. 4 God cannot give what He

does not have, and He cannot have what He is not. 5 Unless God gives you only happiness,

He must be evil. 6 And it is this definition of Him you are believing if you do not

accept the first premise.

W-pI.66.7. The second premise is that God has given you your function. 2 We have seen

that there are only two parts of your mind. 3 One is ruled by the ego, and is made up of

illusions. 4 The other is the home of the Holy Spirit, where truth abides. 5 There 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.

W-pI.66.8. 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. 2 Which is true? 3 Unless God

gave your function to you, it must be the gift of the ego. 4 Does the ego really have

gifts to give, being itself an illusion and offering only the illusion of gifts?

W-pI.66.9. Think about this during the longer practice period today. 2 Think 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. 3 Did you find it? 4 Were

you happy? 5 Did they bring you peace? 6 We need great honesty today. 7 Remember the

outcomes fairly, and consider also whether it was ever reasonable to expect happiness from

anything the ego ever proposed. 8 Yet the ego is the only alternative to the Holy Spirit's

Voice.

W-pI.66.10. You will listen to madness or hear the truth. 2 Try to make this choice as

you think about the premises on which our conclusion rests. 3 We can share in this

conclusion, but in no other. 4 For God Himself shares it with us. 5 Today's idea is another giant

stride in the perception of the same as the same, and the different as different. 6 On

one side stand all illusions. 7 All truth stands on the other. 8 Let us try today to

realize that only the truth is true.

W-pI.66.11. In the shorter practice periods, which would be most helpful today if

undertaken twice an hour, this form of the application is suggested:

2 My happiness and function are one, because God has given me both.

3 It 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.

LESSON 67.

Love created me like itself.

W-pI.67.1. Today's idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. 2 This is

why you are the light of the world. 3 This is why God appointed you as the world's

savior. 4 This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation. 5 He is saved by what

you are. 6 We 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.

W-pI.67.2. In the longer practice period, we will think about your reality and its

wholly unchanged and unchangeable nature. 2 We will begin by repeating this truth about you,

and then spend a few minutes adding some relevant thoughts, such as:

3 Holiness created me holy.

4 Kindness created me kind.

5 Helpfulness created me helpful.

6 Perfection created me perfect.

7 Any attribute which is in accord with God as He defines Himself is appropriate for

use. 8 We are trying today to undo your definition of God and replace it with His Own. 9

We are also trying to emphasize that you are part of His definition of Himself.

W-pI.67.3. 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. 2 If love created you like

itself, this Self must be in you. 3 And somewhere in your mind It is there for you to find.

W-pI.67.4. You may find it necessary to repeat the idea for today from time to time to

replace distracting thoughts. 2 You may also find that this is not sufficient, and that you

need to continue adding other thoughts related to the truth about yourself. 3 Yet 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. 4 Be confident

that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether you feel you have

succeeded or not.

W-pI.67.5. It will be particularly helpful today to practice the idea for the day as

often as you can. 2 You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible,

because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images. 3 Four or five times an hour, and

perhaps even more, it would be most beneficial to remind yourself that love created you like

itself. 4 Hear the truth about yourself in this.

W-pI.67.6. Try to realize in the shorter practice periods that this is not your tiny,

solitary voice that tells you this. 2 This is the Voice for God, reminding you of your Father

and of your Self. 3 This is the Voice of truth, replacing everything that the ego tells

you about yourself with the simple truth about the Son of God. 4 You were created by love

like itself.

LESSON 68.

Love holds no grievances.

W-pI.68.1. You who were created by love like itself can hold no grievances and know

your Self. 2 To hold a grievance is to forget who you are. 3 To hold a grievance is to see

yourself as a body. 4 To hold a grievance is to let the ego rule your mind and to condemn the

body to death. 5 Perhaps you do not yet fully realize just what holding grievances does to

your mind. 6 It seems to split you off from your Source and make you unlike Him. 7 It makes

you believe that He is like what you think you have become, for no one can conceive of

his Creator as unlike himself.

W-pI.68.2. 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. 2 Can all this arise from holding grievances? 3 Oh, yes! 4 For he

who holds grievances denies he was created by love, and his Creator has become fearful

to him in his dream of hate. 5 Who can dream of hatred and not fear God?

W-pI.68.3. 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.

2 It is as sure that those who hold grievances will suffer guilt, as it is certain that

those who forgive will find peace. 3 It is as sure that those who hold grievances will

forget who they are, as it is certain that those who forgive will remember.

W-pI.68.4. Would you not be willing to relinquish your grievances if you believed all

this were so? 2 Perhaps you do not think you can let your grievances go. 3 That, however,

is simply a matter of motivation. 4 Today we will try to find out how you would feel

without them. 5 If you succeed even by ever so little, there will never be a problem in

motivation ever again.

W-pI.68.5. Begin today's extended practice period by searching your mind for those

against whom you hold what you regard as major grievances. 2 Some of these will be quite easy

to find. 3 Then think of the seemingly minor grievances you hold against those you like

and even think you love. 4 It will quickly become apparent that there is no one against

whom you do not cherish grievances of some sort. 5 This has left you alone in all the

universe in your perception of yourself.

W-pI.68.6. Determine now to see all these people as friends. 2 Say to them all,

thinking of each one in turn as you do so:

3 I would see you as my friend, that I may remember you are part of me and come to know

myself.

4 Spend 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. 5 Try to feel safety surrounding you, hovering over you and

holding you up. 6 Try to believe, however briefly, that nothing can harm you in any way. 7 At

the end of the practice period tell yourself:

8 Love holds no grievances. 9 When I let all my grievances go I will know I am

perfectly safe.

W-pI.68.7. 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:

2 Love holds no grievances. 3 Let me not betray my Self.

4 In addition, repeat the idea several times an hour in this form:

5 Love holds no grievances. 6 I would wake to my Self by laying all my grievances aside

and wakening in Him.

LESSON 69.

My grievances hide the light of the world in me.

W-pI.69.1. No one can look upon what your grievances conceal. 2 Because your grievances

are hiding the light of the world in you, everyone stands in darkness, and you beside

him. 3 But as the veil of your grievances is lifted, you are released with him. 4 Share

your salvation now with him who stood beside you when you were in hell. 5 He is your

brother in the light of the world that saves you both.

W-pI.69.2. Today let us make another real attempt to reach the light in you. 2 Before

we undertake this in our more extended practice period, let us devote several minutes to

thinking about what we are trying to do. 3 We are literally attempting to get in touch with the

salvation of the world. 4 We are trying to see past the veil of darkness that keeps it

concealed. 5 We are trying to let the veil be lifted, and to see the tears of God's Son

disappear in the sunlight.

W-pI.69.3. 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. 2

Salvation is our only need. 3 There is no other purpose here, and no other function to fulfill.

4 Learning salvation is our only goal. 5 Let 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.

W-pI.69.4. Very quietly now, with your eyes closed, try to let go of all the content

that generally occupies your consciousness. 2 Think of your mind as a vast circle,

surrounded by a layer of heavy, dark clouds. 3 You can see only the clouds because you seem to be

standing outside the circle and quite apart from it.

W-pI.69.5. From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant

light hidden by the clouds. 2 The clouds seem to be the only reality. 3 They seem to be all

there is to see. 4 Therefore, 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. 5 We will

make this attempt today.

W-pI.69.6. 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! 2 Determine to go past the clouds. 3

Reach out and touch them in your mind. 4 Brush them aside with your hand; feel them resting

on your cheeks and forehead and eyelids as you go through them. 5 Go on; clouds cannot

stop you.

W-pI.69.7. If you are doing the exercises properly, you will begin to feel a sense of

being lifted up and carried ahead. 2 Your 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.

3 You are in accord with His Will. 4 You cannot fail because your will is His.

W-pI.69.8. Have confidence in your Father today, and be certain that He has heard you

and answered you. 2 You may not recognize His answer yet, but you can indeed be sure that

it is given you and you will yet receive it. 3 Try, as you attempt to go through the

clouds to the light, to hold this confidence in your mind. 4 Try to remember that you are at

last joining your will to God's. 5 Try to keep the thought clearly in mind that what you

undertake with God must succeed. 6 Then let the power of God work in you and through you, that

His Will and yours be done.

W-pI.69.9. 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. 2 Remind

yourself also that you are not searching for it alone, and that you do know where to look for

it. 3 Say, then:

4 My grievances hide the light of the world in me. 5 I cannot see what I have hidden. 6

Yet I want to let it be revealed to me, for my salvation and the salvation of the world.

7 Also, be sure to tell yourself:

8 If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me,

if you are tempted to hold anything against anyone today.

LESSON 70.

My salvation comes from me.

W-pI.70.1. All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to

believe the idea for today. 2 Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. 3

So, too, does the source of guilt. 4 You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own

mind and nowhere else. 5 When 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. 6 In

understanding this you are saved.

W-pI.70.2. 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. 2 But it also

means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any

way. 3 Today's idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong because of what

you are. 4 This is not a role that can be partially accepted. 5 And you must surely

begin to see that accepting it is salvation.

W-pI.70.3. 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. 2 God would not have

put the remedy for the sickness where it cannot help. 3 That is the way your mind has

worked, but hardly His. 4 He wants you to be healed, so He has kept the Source of healing

where the need for healing lies.

W-pI.70.4. 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. 2 Your purpose was to ensure that healing did not occur.

3 God's purpose was to ensure that it did.

W-pI.70.5. Today we practice realizing that God's Will and ours are really the same in

this. 2 God wants us to be healed, and we do not really want to be sick, because it makes

us unhappy. 3 Therefore, in accepting the idea for today, we are really in agreement with

God. 4 He does not want us to be sick. 5 Neither do we. 6 He wants us to be healed. 7

So do we.

W-pI.70.6. We are ready for two longer practice periods today, each of which should

last some ten to fifteen minutes. 2 We will, however, still let you decide when to

undertake them. 3 We 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.

W-pI.70.7. Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today, adding a

statement signifying your recognition that salvation comes from nothing outside of you. 2 You

might put it this way:

3 My salvation comes from me. 4 It cannot come from anywhere else.

5 Then 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. 6 Recognize

that it is not there, and tell yourself:

7 My salvation cannot come from any of these things. 8 My salvation comes from me and

only from me.

W-pI.70.8. Now we will try again to reach the light in you, which is where your

salvation is. 2 You cannot find it in the clouds that surround the light, and it is in them you

have been looking for it. 3 It is not there. 4 It is past the clouds and in the light

beyond. 5 Remember that you will have to go through the clouds before you can reach the light.

6 But remember also that you have never found anything in the cloud patterns you

imagined that endured, or that you wanted.

W-pI.70.9. 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. 2 Try to pass the clouds by whatever means appeals to you. 3

If it helps you, think of me holding your hand and leading you. 4 And I assure you this

will be no idle fantasy.

W-pI.70.10. 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.

2 You are free from all external interference. 3 You are in charge of your salvation. 4

You are in charge of the salvation of the world. 5 Say, then:

6 My salvation comes from me. 7 Nothing outside of me can hold me back. 8 Within me is

the world's salvation and my own.

LESSON 71.

Only God's plan for salvation will work.

W-pI.71.1. You may not realize that the ego has set up a plan for salvation in

opposition to God's. 2 It is this plan in which you believe. 3 Since 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. 4

This sounds preposterous, of course. 5 Yet 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.

W-pI.71.2. The ego's plan for salvation centers around holding grievances. 2 It

maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or

event were changed, you would be saved. 3 Thus, the source of salvation is constantly

perceived as outside yourself. 4 Each grievance you hold is a declaration, and an assertion in

which you believe, that says, "If this were different, I would be saved." 5 The change of

mind necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything except yourself.

W-pI.71.3. 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. 2 According to this

insane plan, any perceived source of salvation is acceptable provided that it will not work.

3 This 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. 4 Another person will yet serve better; another situation will yet offer

success.

W-pI.71.4. Such is the ego's plan for your salvation. 2 Surely you can see how it is in

strict accord with the ego's basic doctrine, "Seek but do not find." 3 For 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?

W-pI.71.5. God's plan for salvation works simply because, by following His direction,

you seek for salvation where it is. 2 But if you are to succeed, as God promises you will,

you must be willing to seek there only. 3 Otherwise, your purpose is divided and you

will attempt to follow two plans for salvation that are diametrically opposed in all ways.

4 The result can only bring confusion, misery and a deep sense of failure and despair.

W-pI.71.6. How can you escape all this? 2 Very simply. 3 The idea for today is the

answer. 4 Only God's plan for salvation will work. 5 There can be no real conflict about this,

because there is no possible alternative to God's plan that will save you. 6 His is

the only plan that is certain in its outcome. 7 His is the only plan that must succeed.

W-pI.71.7. Let us practice recognizing this certainty today. 2 And let us rejoice that

there is an answer to what seems to be a conflict with no resolution possible. 3 All things

are possible to God. 4 Salvation must be yours because of His plan, which cannot fail.

W-pI.71.8. 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.

2 God's plan for your salvation will work, and other plans will not. 3 Do not allow

yourself to become depressed or angry at the second part; it is inherent in the first. 4 And in

the first is your full release from all your own insane attempts and mad proposals to

free yourself. 5 They have led to depression and anger; but God's plan will succeed. 6 It

will lead to release and joy.

W-pI.71.9. Remembering this, let us devote the remainder of the extended practice

periods to asking God to reveal His plan to us. 2 Ask Him very specifically:

3 What would You have me do?

4 Where would You have me go?

5 What would You have me say, and to whom?

6 Give 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. 7 He will answer in proportion to

your willingness to hear His Voice. 8 Refuse not to hear. 9 The very fact that you are

doing the exercises proves that you have some willingness to listen. 10 This is enough to

establish your claim to God's answer.

W-pI.71.10. In the shorter practice periods, tell yourself often that God's plan for

salvation, and only His, will work. 2 Be alert to all temptation to hold grievances today, and

respond to them with this form of today's idea:

3 Holding grievances is the opposite of God's plan for salvation. 4 And only His plan

will work.

5 Try to remember today's idea some six or seven times an hour. 6 There 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.

LESSON 72.

Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.

W-pI.72.1. 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. 2 In 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.

W-pI.72.2. The ego's fundamental wish is to replace God. 2 In fact, the ego is the

physical embodiment of that wish. 3 For 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. 4 The limit on communication cannot be the best means to

expand communication. 5 Yet the ego would have you believe that it is.

W-pI.72.3. 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. 2 But let us consider the kinds of things you are apt to hold grievances

for. 3 Are they not always associated with something a body does? 4 A person says

something you do not like. 5 He does something that displeases you. 6 He "betrays" his hostile

thoughts in his behavior.

W-pI.72.4. You are not dealing here with what the person is. 2 On the contrary, you are

exclusively concerned with what he does in a body. 3 You are doing more than failing to

help in freeing him from the body's limitations. 4 You are actively trying to hold him

to it by confusing it with him, and judging them as one. 5 Herein is God attacked, for if

His Son is only a body, so must He be as well. 6 A creator wholly unlike his creation

is inconceivable.

W-pI.72.5. If God is a body, what must His plan for salvation be? 2 What could it be

but death? 3 In 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. 4 The

body's apparent reality makes this view of God quite convincing. 5 In fact, if the body

were real, it would be difficult indeed to escape this conclusion. 6 And every

grievance that you hold insists that the body is real. 7 It overlooks entirely what your brother

is. 8 It reinforces your belief that he is a body, and condemns him for it. 9 And it

asserts that his salvation must be death, projecting this attack onto God, and holding Him

responsible for it.

W-pI.72.6. To this carefully prepared arena, where angry animals seek for prey and

mercy cannot enter, the ego comes to save you. 2 God made you a body. 3 Very well. 4 Let us

accept this and be glad. 5 As a body, do not let yourself be deprived of what the body offers.

6 Take the little you can get. 7 God gave you nothing. 8 The body is your only savior.

9 It is the death of God and your salvation.

W-pI.72.7. This is the universal belief of the world you see. 2 Some hate the body, and

try to hurt and humiliate it. 3 Others love the body, and try to glorify and exalt it.

4 But 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. 5 Your chosen savior

takes His place instead. 6 It is your friend; He is your enemy.

W-pI.72.8. We will try today to stop these senseless attacks on salvation. 2 We will

try to welcome it instead. 3 Your upside-down perception has been ruinous to your peace of

mind. 4 You have seen yourself in a body and the truth outside you, locked away from

your awareness by the body's limitations. 5 Now we are going to try to see this differently.

W-pI.72.9. The light of truth is in us, where it was placed by God. 2 It is the body

that is outside us, and is not our concern. 3 To be without a body is to be in our natural

state. 4 To recognize the light of truth in us is to recognize ourselves as we are. 5 To see

our Self as separate from the body is to end the attack on God's plan for salvation,

and to accept it instead. 6 And wherever His plan is accepted, it is accomplished already.

W-pI.72.10. Our goal in the longer practice periods today is to become aware that God's

plan for salvation has already been accomplished in us. 2 To achieve this goal, we must

replace attack with acceptance. 3 As long as we attack it, we cannot understand what

God's plan for us is. 4 We are therefore attacking what we do not recognize. 5 Now we are

going to try to lay judgment aside, and ask what God's plan for us is:

6 What is salvation, Father? 7 I do not know. 8 Tell me, that I may understand.

9 Then we will wait in quiet for His answer. 10 We have attacked God's plan for

salvation without waiting to hear what it is. 11 We have shouted our grievances so loudly that

we have not listened to His Voice. 12 We have used our grievances to close our eyes and

stop our ears.

W-pI.72.11. Now we would see and hear and learn. 2 "What is salvation, Father?" 3 Ask

and you will be answered. 4 Seek and you will find. 5 We are no longer asking the ego what

salvation is and where to find it. 6 We are asking it of truth. 7 Be certain, then,

that the answer will be true because of Whom you ask.

W-pI.72.12. 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:

2 What is salvation, Father? 3 I do not know. 4 Tell me, that I may understand.

5 He will answer. 6 Be determined to hear.

W-pI.72.13. One or perhaps two shorter practice periods an hour will be enough for

today, since they will be somewhat longer than usual. 2 These exercises should begin with

this:

3 Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation. 4 Let me accept it

instead. 5 What is salvation, Father?

6 Then wait a minute or so in silence, preferably with your eyes closed, and listen for

His answer.

LESSON 73.

I will there be light.

W-pI.73.1. Today we are considering the will you share with God. 2 This is not the same

as the ego's idle wishes, out of which darkness and nothingness arise. 3 The will you

share with God has all the power of creation in it. 4 The ego's idle wishes are unshared,

and therefore have no power at all. 5 Its wishes are not idle in the sense that they can

make a world of illusions in which your belief can be very strong. 6 But they are idle

indeed in terms of creation. 7 They make nothing that is real.

W-pI.73.2. Idle wishes and grievances are partners or co-makers in picturing the world

you see. 2 The 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. 3 These figures become the middlemen the ego employs to traffic

in grievances. 4 They stand between your awareness and your brothers' reality. 5

Beholding them, you do not know your brothers or your Self.

W-pI.73.3. Your will is lost to you in this strange bartering, in which guilt is traded

back and forth, and grievances increase with each exchange. 2 Can such a world have

been created by the Will the Son of God shares with his Father? 3 Did God create disaster

for His Son? 4 Creation is the Will of Both together. 5 Would God create a world that

kills Himself?

W-pI.73.4. Today we will try once more to reach the world that is in accordance with

your will. 2 The light is in it because it does not oppose the Will of God. 3 It is not

Heaven, but the light of Heaven shines on it. 4 Darkness has vanished. 5 The ego's idle

wishes have been withdrawn. 6 Yet the light that shines upon this world reflects your will,

and so it must be in you that we will look for it.

W-pI.73.5. Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within. 2 The source of

neither light nor darkness can be found without. 3 Grievances darken your mind, and you look

out on a darkened world. 4 Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets

you look upon a world of light. 5 We have repeatedly emphasized that the barrier of

grievances is easily passed, and cannot stand between you and your salvation. 6 The reason is

very simple. 7 Do you really want to be in hell? 8 Do you really want to weep and suffer

and die?

W-pI.73.6. Forget the ego's arguments which seek to prove all this is really Heaven. 2

You know it is not so. 3 You cannot want this for yourself. 4 There is a point beyond

which illusions cannot go. 5 Suffering is not happiness, and it is happiness you really want.

6 Such is your will in truth. 7 And so salvation is your will as well. 8 You want to

succeed in what we are trying to do today. 9 We undertake it with your blessing and your glad

accord.

W-pI.73.7. We will succeed today if you remember that you want salvation for yourself.

2 You want to accept God's plan because you share in it. 3 You have no will that can

really oppose it, and you do not want to do so. 4 Salvation is for you. 5 Above all else, you

want the freedom to remember Who you really are. 6 Today it is the ego that stands

powerless before your will. 7 Your will is free, and nothing can prevail against it.

W-pI.73.8. 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. 2 No idle wishes can detain us, nor deceive us with an illusion of strength. 3 Today

let your will be done, and end forever the insane belief that it is hell in place of

Heaven that you choose.

W-pI.73.9. 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. 2 It is not the

purpose of an alien power, thrust upon you unwillingly. 3 It is the one purpose here on which

you and your Father are in perfect accord. 4 You will succeed today, the time appointed

for the release of the Son of God from hell and from all idle wishes. 5 His will is now

restored to his awareness. 6 He is willing this very day to look upon the light in him and be

saved.

W-pI.73.10. After reminding yourself of this, and determining to keep your will clearly

in mind, tell yourself with gentle firmness and quiet certainty:

2 I will there be light. 3 Let me behold the light that reflects God's Will and mine.

4 Then let your will assert itself, joined with the power of God and united with your

Self. 5 Put the rest of the practice period under Their guidance. 6 Join with Them as They

lead the way.

W-pI.73.11. In the shorter practice periods, again make a declaration of what you

really want. 2 Say:

3 I will there be light. 4 Darkness is not my will.

5 This should be repeated several times an hour. 6 It is most important, however, to

apply today's idea in this form immediately you are tempted to hold a grievance of any kind.

7 This will help you let your grievances go, instead of cherishing them and hiding them

in darkness.

LESSON 74.

There is no will but God's.

W-pI.74.1. The idea for today can be regarded as the central thought toward which all

our exercises are directed. 2 God's is the only Will. 3 When you have recognized this, you

have recognized that your will is His. 4 The belief that conflict is possible has gone.

5 Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. 6 As an

expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His.

W-pI.74.2. There is great peace in today's idea, and the exercises for today are

directed towards finding it. 2 The idea itself is wholly true. 3 Therefore it cannot give rise

to illusions. 4 Without illusions conflict is impossible. 5 Let us try to recognize this

today, and experience the peace this recognition brings.

W-pI.74.3. 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:

2 There is no will but God's. 3 I cannot be in conflict.

4 Then spend several minutes in adding some related thoughts, such as:

5 I am at peace.

6 Nothing can disturb me. 7 My will is God's.

8 My will and God's are one.

9 God wills peace for His Son.

10 During this introductory phase, be sure to deal quickly with any conflict thoughts

that may cross your mind. 11 Tell yourself immediately:

12 There is no will but God's. 13 These conflict thoughts are meaningless.

W-pI.74.4. If there is one conflict area that seems particularly difficult to resolve,

single it out for special consideration. 2 Think about it briefly but very specifically,

identify the particular person or persons and the situation or situations involved, and tell

yourself:

3 There is no will but God's. 4 I share it with Him. 5 My conflicts about ___ cannot be

real.

W-pI.74.5. After you have cleared your mind in this way, close your eyes and try to

experience the peace to which your reality entitles you. 2 Sink into it and feel it closing

around you. 3 There may be some temptation to mistake these attempts for withdrawal, but the

difference is easily detected. 4 If you are succeeding, you will feel a deep sense of joy and an

increased alertness, rather than a feeling of drowsiness and enervation.

W-pI.74.6. Joy characterizes peace. 2 By this experience will you recognize that you

have reached it. 3 If you feel yourself slipping off into withdrawal, quickly repeat the

idea for today and try again. 4 Do this as often as necessary. 5 There is definite gain in

refusing to allow retreat into withdrawal, even if you do not experience the peace you seek.

W-pI.74.7. In the shorter periods, which should be undertaken at regular and

predetermined intervals today, say to yourself:

2 There is no will but God's. 3 I seek His peace today.

4 Then try to find what you are seeking. 5 A minute or two every half an hour, with

eyes closed if possible, would be well spent on this today.

LESSON 75.

The light has come.

W-pI.75.1. The light has come. 2 You are healed and you can heal. 3 The light has come.

4 You are saved and you can save. 5 You are at peace, and you bring peace with you

wherever you go. 6 Darkness and turmoil and death have disappeared. 7 The light has come.

W-pI.75.2. Today we celebrate the happy ending to your long dream of disaster. 2 There

are no dark dreams now. 3 The light has come. 4 Today the time of light begins for you and

everyone. 5 It is a new era, in which a new world is born. 6 The old one has left no

trace upon it in its passing. 7 Today we see a different world, because the light has come.

W-pI.75.3. 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. 2 No shadows from the past remain to

darken our sight and hide the world forgiveness offers us. 3 Today we will accept the new

world as what we want to see. 4 We will be given what we desire. 5 We will to see the light;

the light has come.

W-pI.75.4. Our longer practice periods will be devoted to looking at the world that our

forgiveness shows us. 2 This is what we want to see, and only this. 3 Our single

purpose makes our goal inevitable. 4 Today the real world rises before us in gladness, to be

seen at last. 5 Sight is given us, now that the light has come.

W-pI.75.5. We do not want to see the ego's shadow on the world today. 2 We see the

light, and in it we see Heaven's reflection lie across the world. 3 Begin the longer

practice periods by telling yourself the glad tidings of your release:

4 The light has come. 5 I have forgiven the world.

W-pI.75.6. Dwell not upon the past today. 2 Keep a completely open mind, washed of all

past ideas and clean of every concept you have made. 3 You have forgiven the world today. 4

You can look upon it now as if you never saw it before. 5 You do not know yet what it

looks like. 6 You merely wait to have it shown to you. 7 While you wait, repeat several

times, slowly and in complete patience:

8 The light has come. 9 I have forgiven the world.

W-pI.75.7. Realize that your forgiveness entitles you to vision. 2 Understand that the

Holy Spirit never fails to give the gift of sight to the forgiving. 3 Believe He will not

fail you now. 4 You have forgiven the world. 5 He will be with you as you watch and wait. 6

He will show you what true vision sees. 7 It is His Will, and you have joined with Him.

8 Wait patiently for Him. 9 He will be there. 10 The light has come. 11 You have

forgiven the world.

W-pI.75.8. Tell Him you know you cannot fail because you trust in Him. 2 And tell

yourself you wait in certainty to look upon the world He promised you. 3 From this time forth

you will see differently. 4 Today the light has come. 5 And you will see the world that

has been promised you since time began, and in which is the end of time ensured.

W-pI.75.9. The shorter practice periods, too, will be joyful reminders of your release.

2 Remind yourself every quarter of an hour or so that today is a time for special

celebration. 3 Give thanks for mercy and the Love of God. 4 Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to

heal your sight completely. 5 Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning. 6

Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to see today. 7 And

what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today forever.

W-pI.75.10. Say, then:

2 The light has come. 3 I have forgiven the world.

4 Should you be tempted, say to anyone who seems to pull you back into darkness:

5 The light has come. 6 I have forgiven you.

W-pI.75.11. We dedicate this day to the serenity in which God would have you be. 2 Keep

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 76.

I am under no laws but God's.

W-pI.76.1. We have observed before how many senseless things have seemed to you to be

salvation. 2 Each has imprisoned you with laws as senseless as itself. 3 You are not bound by

them. 4 Yet to understand that this is so, you must first realize salvation lies not there.

5 While you would seek for it in things that have no meaning, you bind yourself to laws

that make no sense. 6 Thus do you seek to prove salvation is where it is not.

W-pI.76.2. Today we will be glad you cannot prove it. 2 For if you could, you would

forever seek salvation where it is not, and never find it. 3 The idea for today tells you once

again how simple is salvation. 4 Look for it where it waits for you, and there it will

be found. 5 Look nowhere else, for it is nowhere else.

W-pI.76.3. 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. 2 You really think that you would starve

unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs. 3 You really

think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed into your veins through a sharpened needle

will ward off disease and death. 4 You really think you are alone unless another body is

with you.

W-pI.76.4. It is insanity that thinks these things. 2 You call them laws, and put them

under different names in a long catalogue of rituals that have no use and serve no purpose.

3 You think you must obey the "laws" of medicine, of economics and of health. 4 Protect

the body, and you will be saved.

W-pI.76.5. These are not laws, but madness. 2 The body is endangered by the mind that

hurts itself. 3 The body suffers just in order that the mind will fail to see it is the

victim of itself. 4 The body's suffering is a mask the mind holds up to hide what really

suffers. 5 It would not understand it is its own enemy; that it attacks itself and wants to

die. 6 It is from this your "laws" would save the body. 7 It is for this you think you are

a body.

W-pI.76.6. There are no laws except the laws of God. 2 This needs repeating, over and

over, until you realize it applies to everything that you have made in opposition to God's

Will. 3 Your magic has no meaning. 4 What it is meant to save does not exist. 5 Only what

it is meant to hide will save you.

W-pI.76.7. The laws of God can never be replaced. 2 We will devote today to rejoicing

that this is so. 3 It is no longer a truth that we would hide. 4 We realize instead it is a

truth that keeps us free forever. 5 Magic imprisons, but the laws of God make free. 6

The light has come because there are no laws but His.

W-pI.76.8. We will begin the longer practice periods today with a short review of the

different kinds of "laws" we have believed we must obey. 2 These would include, for example, the

"laws" of nutrition, of immunization, of medication, and of the body's protection in

innumerable ways. 3 Think further; you believe in the "laws" of friendship, of "good"

relationships and reciprocity. 4 Perhaps you even think that there are laws which set forth what is

God's and what is yours. 5 Many "religions" have been based on this. 6 They would not save

but damn in Heaven's name. 7 Yet they are no more strange than other "laws" you hold must

be obeyed to make you safe.

W-pI.76.9. There are no laws but God's. 2 Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today,

and hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you. 3

You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. 4 Payment is

neither given nor received. 5 Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes; and

nothing is replaced by something else. 6 God's laws forever give and never take.

W-pI.76.10. Hear Him Who tells you this, and realize how foolish are the "laws" you

thought upheld the world you thought you saw. 2 Then listen further. 3 He will tell you more.

4 About the Love your Father has for you. 5 About the endless joy He offers you. 6 About

His yearning for His only Son, created as His channel for creation; denied to Him by

his belief in hell.

W-pI.76.11. Let us today open God's channels to Him, and let His Will extend through us

to Him. 2 Thus is creation endlessly increased. 3 His Voice will speak of this to us,

as well as of the joys of Heaven which His laws keep limitless forever. 4 We will repeat

today's idea until we have listened and understood there are no laws but God's. 5 Then we will

tell ourselves, as a dedication with which the practice period concludes:

6 I am under no laws but God's.

W-pI.76.12. 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. 2 It is our statement of freedom from all

danger and all tyranny. 3 It is our acknowledgment that God is our Father, and that His Son

is saved.

LESSON 77.

I am entitled to miracles.

W-pI.77.1. You are entitled to miracles because of what you are. 2 You will receive

miracles because of what God is. 3 And you will offer miracles because you are one with God. 4

Again, how simple is salvation! 5 It is merely a statement of your true Identity. 6 It is

this that we will celebrate today.

W-pI.77.2. Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. 2 It

does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the

rituals you have devised. 3 It is inherent in the truth of what you are. 4 It is implicit in

what God your Father is. 5 It was ensured in your creation, and guaranteed by the laws of

God.

W-pI.77.3. Today we will claim the miracles which are your right, since they belong to

you. 2 You have been promised full release from the world you made. 3 You have been

assured that the Kingdom of God is within you, and can never be lost. 4 We ask no more than

what belongs to us in truth. 5 Today, however, we will also make sure that we will not

content ourselves with less.

W-pI.77.4. Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself quite confidently that

you are entitled to miracles. 2 Closing your eyes, remind yourself that you are asking

only for what is rightfully yours. 3 Remind 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. 4 Miracles do not obey the laws of this world. 5 They merely follow from

the laws of God.

W-pI.77.5. After this brief introductory phase, wait quietly for the assurance that

your request is granted. 2 You have asked for the salvation of the world, and for your own.

3 You have requested that you be given the means by which this is accomplished. 4 You

cannot fail to be assured in this. 5 You are but asking that the Will of God be done.

W-pI.77.6. In doing this, you do not really ask for anything. 2 You state a fact that

cannot be denied. 3 The Holy Spirit cannot but assure you that your request is granted. 4 The

fact that you accepted must be so. 5 There is no room for doubt and uncertainty today.

6 We are asking a real question at last. 7 The answer is a simple statement of a simple

fact. 8 You will receive the assurance that you seek.

W-pI.77.7. Our shorter practice periods will be frequent, and will also be devoted to a

reminder of a simple fact. 2 Tell yourself often today:

3 I am entitled to miracles.

4 Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for. 5 You will

recognize these situations. 6 And since you are not relying on yourself to find the miracle, you

are fully entitled to receive it whenever you ask.

W-pI.77.8. Remember, too, not to be satisfied with less than the perfect answer. 2 Be

quick to tell yourself, should you be tempted:

3 I will not trade miracles for grievances. 4 I want only what belongs to me. 5 God has

established miracles as my right.

LESSON 78.

Let miracles replace all grievances.

W-pI.78.1. Perhaps it is not yet quite clear to you that each decision that you make is

one between a grievance and a miracle. 2 Each grievance stands like a dark shield of

hate before the miracle it would conceal. 3 And as you raise it up before your eyes, you

will not see the miracle beyond. 4 Yet all the while it waits for you in light, but you

behold your grievances instead.

W-pI.78.2. Today we go beyond the grievances, to look upon the miracle instead. 2 We

will reverse the way you see by not allowing sight to stop before it sees. 3 We will not

wait before the shield of hate, but lay it down and gently lift our eyes in silence to

behold the Son of God.

W-pI.78.3. He waits for you behind your grievances, and as you lay them down he will

appear in shining light where each one stood before. 2 For every grievance is a block to

sight, and as it lifts you see the Son of God where he has always been. 3 He stands in light,

but you were in the dark. 4 Each grievance made the darkness deeper, and you could not

see.

W-pI.78.4. Today we will attempt to see God's Son. 2 We will not let ourselves be blind

to him; we will not look upon our grievances. 3 So is the seeing of the world reversed,

as we look out toward truth, away from fear. 4 We will select one person you have used

as target for your grievances, and lay the grievances aside and look at him. 5 Someone,

perhaps, you fear and even hate; someone you think you love who angered you; someone you call

a friend, but whom you see as difficult at times or hard to please, demanding,

irritating or untrue to the ideal he should accept as his, according to the role you set for him.

W-pI.78.5. You know the one to choose; his name has crossed your mind already. 2 He

will be the one of whom we ask God's Son be shown to you. 3 Through seeing him behind the

grievances that you have held against him, you will learn that what lay hidden while you saw him

not is there in everyone, and can be seen. 4 He who was enemy is more than friend when he

is freed to take the holy role the Holy Spirit has assigned to him. 5 Let him be savior

unto you today. 6 Such is his role in God your Father's plan.

W-pI.78.6. Our longer practice periods today will see him in this role. 2 You will

attempt to hold him in your mind, first as you now consider him. 3 You will review his faults,

the difficulties you have had with him, the pain he caused you, his neglect, and all

the little and the larger hurts he gave. 4 You will regard his body with its flaws and

better points as well, and you will think of his mistakes and even of his "sins."

W-pI.78.7. Then let us ask of Him Who knows this Son of God in his reality and truth,

that we may look on him a different way, and see our savior shining in the light of true

forgiveness, given unto us. 2 We ask Him in the holy Name of God and of His Son, as holy as

Himself:

3 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.

4 The body's eyes are closed, and as you think of him who grieved you, let your mind be

shown the light in him beyond your grievances.

W-pI.78.8. What you have asked for cannot be denied. 2 Your savior has been waiting

long for this. 3 He would be free, and make his freedom yours. 4 The Holy Spirit leans from

him to you, seeing no separation in God's Son. 5 And what you see through Him will free

you both. 6 Be very quiet now, and look upon your shining savior. 7 No dark grievances

obscure the sight of him. 8 You have allowed the Holy Spirit to express through him the role

God gave Him that you might be saved.

W-pI.78.9. God thanks you for these quiet times today in which you laid your images

aside, and looked upon the miracle of love the Holy Spirit showed you in their place. 2 The

world and Heaven join in thanking you, for not one Thought of God but must rejoice as you

are saved, and all the world with you.

W-pI.78.10. We will remember this throughout the day, and take the role assigned to us

as part of God's salvation plan, and not our own. 2 Temptation falls away when we allow

each one we meet to save us, and refuse to hide his light behind our grievances. 3 To

everyone you meet, and to the ones you think of or remember from the past, allow the role of

savior to be given, that you may share it with him. 4 For you both, and all the sightless

ones as well, we pray:

5 Let miracles replace all grievances.

LESSON 79.

Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.

W-pI.79.1. A problem cannot be solved if you do not know what it is. 2 Even if it is

really solved already you will still have the problem, because you will not recognize that it

has been solved. 3 This is the situation of the world. 4 The problem of separation,

which is really the only problem, has already been solved. 5 Yet the solution is not

recognized because the problem is not recognized.

W-pI.79.2. Everyone in this world seems to have his own special problems. 2 Yet they

are all the same, and must be recognized as one if the one solution that solves them all

is to be accepted. 3 Who can see that a problem has been solved if he thinks the problem

is something else? 4 Even if he is given the answer, he cannot see its relevance.

W-pI.79.3. That is the position in which you find yourself now. 2 You have the answer,

but you are still uncertain about what the problem is. 3 A long series of different

problems seems to confront you, and as one is settled the next one and the next arise. 4 There

seems to be no end to them. 5 There is no time in which you feel completely free of problems

and at peace.

W-pI.79.4. The temptation to regard problems as many is the temptation to keep the

problem of separation unsolved. 2 The world seems to present you with a vast number of

problems, each requiring a different answer. 3 This perception places you in a position in

which your problem solving must be inadequate, and failure is inevitable.

W-pI.79.5. No one could solve all the problems the world appears to hold. 2 They seem

to be on so many levels, in such varying forms and with such varied content, that they

confront you with an impossible situation. 3 Dismay and depression are inevitable as you regard

them. 4 Some spring up unexpectedly, just as you think you have resolved the previous

ones. 5 Others remain unsolved under a cloud of denial, and rise to haunt you from time to

time, only to be hidden again but still unsolved.

W-pI.79.6. All this complexity is but a desperate attempt not to recognize the problem,

and therefore not to let it be resolved. 2 If you could recognize that your only

problem is separation, no matter what form it takes, you could accept the answer because you

would see its relevance. 3 Perceiving the underlying constancy in all the problems that seem

to confront you, you would understand that you have the means to solve them all. 4 And

you would use the means, because you recognize the problem.

W-pI.79.7. In our longer practice periods today we will ask what the problem is, and

what is the answer to it. 2 We will not assume that we already know. 3 We will try to free

our minds of all the many different kinds of problems we think we have. 4 We will try to

realize that we have only one problem, which we have failed to recognize. 5 We will ask what

it is, and wait for the answer. 6 We will be told. 7 Then we will ask for the solution to

it. 8 And we will be told.

W-pI.79.8. The exercises for today will be successful to the extent to which you do not

insist on defining the problem. 2 Perhaps you will not succeed in letting all your

preconceived notions go, but that is not necessary. 3 All that is necessary is to entertain some

doubt about the reality of your version of what your problems are. 4 You are trying to

recognize that you have been given the answer by recognizing the problem, so that the problem

and the answer can be brought together and you can be at peace.

W-pI.79.9. The shorter practice periods for today will not be set by time, but by need.

2 You will see many problems today, each one calling for an answer. 3 Our efforts will

be directed toward recognizing that there is only one problem and one answer. 4 In this

recognition are all problems resolved. 5 In this recognition there is peace.

W-pI.79.10. Be not deceived by the form of problems today. 2 Whenever any difficulty

seems to rise, tell yourself quickly:

3 Let me recognize this problem so it can be solved.

4 Then try to suspend all judgment about what the problem is. 5 If possible, close your

eyes for a moment and ask what it is. 6 You will be heard and you will be answered.

LESSON 80.

Let me recognize my problems have been solved.

W-pI.80.1. If you are willing to recognize your problems, you will recognize that you

have no problems. 2 Your one central problem has been answered, and you have no other. 3

Therefore, you must be at peace. 4 Salvation thus depends on recognizing this one problem, and

understanding that it has been solved. 5 One problem, one solution. 6 Salvation is accomplished. 7

Freedom from conflict has been given you. 8 Accept that fact, and you are ready to take your

rightful place in God's plan for salvation.

W-pI.80.2. Your only problem has been solved! 2 Repeat this over and over to yourself

today, with gratitude and conviction. 3 You have recognized your only problem, opening the

way for the Holy Spirit to give you God's answer. 4 You have laid deception aside, and

seen the light of truth. 5 You have accepted salvation for yourself by bringing the problem

to the answer. 6 And you can recognize the answer, because the problem has been

identified.

W-pI.80.3. You are entitled to peace today. 2 A problem that has been resolved cannot

trouble you. 3 Only be certain you do not forget that all problems are the same. 4 Their many

forms will not deceive you while you remember this. 5 One problem, one solution. 6 Accept

the peace this simple statement brings.

W-pI.80.4. In our longer practice periods today, we will claim the peace that must be

ours when the problem and the answer have been brought together. 2 The problem must be gone,

because God's answer cannot fail. 3 Having recognized one, you have recognized the

other. 4 The solution is inherent in the problem. 5 You are answered, and have accepted the

answer. 6 You are saved.

W-pI.80.5. Now let the peace that your acceptance brings be given you. 2 Close your

eyes, and receive your reward. 3 Recognize that your problems have been solved. 4 Recognize

that you are out of conflict; free and at peace. 5 Above all, remember that you have

one problem, and that the problem has one solution. 6 It is in this that the simplicity of

salvation lies. 7 It is because of this that it is guaranteed to work.

W-pI.80.6. Assure yourself often today that your problems have been solved. 2 Repeat

the idea with deep conviction, as frequently as possible. 3 And be particularly sure to

apply the idea for today to any specific problem that may arise. 4 Say quickly:

5 Let me recognize this problem has been solved.

W-pI.80.7. Let us be determined not to collect grievances today. 2 Let us be determined

to be free of problems that do not exist. 3 The means is simple honesty. 4 Do not

deceive yourself about what the problem is, and you must recognize it has been solved.

REVIEW II

Introduction

W-pI.rII.in.1. We are now ready for another review. 2 We will begin where our last

review left off, and cover two ideas each day. 3 The earlier part of each day will be devoted

to one of these ideas, and the latter part of the day to the other. 4 We will have one

longer exercise period, and frequent shorter ones in which we practice each of them.

W-pI.rII.in.2. The longer practice periods will follow this general form: Take about

fifteen minutes for each of them, and begin by thinking about the ideas for the day, and the

comments that are included in the assignments. 2 Devote some three or four minutes to reading

them over slowly, several times if you wish, and then close your eyes and listen.

W-pI.rII.in.3. Repeat the first phase of the exercise period if you find your mind

wandering, but try to spend the major part of the time listening quietly but attentively. 2

There is a message waiting for you. 3 Be confident that you will receive it. 4 Remember that

it belongs to you, and that you want it.

W-pI.rII.in.4. Do not allow your intent to waver in the face of distracting thoughts. 2

Realize that, whatever form such thoughts may take, they have no meaning and no power.

3 Replace them with your determination to succeed. 4 Do not forget that your will has

power over all fantasies and dreams. 5 Trust it to see you through, and carry you beyond

them all.

W-pI.rII.in.5. Regard these practice periods as dedications to the way, the truth and

the life. 2 Refuse to be sidetracked into detours, illusions and thoughts of death. 3 You

are dedicated to salvation. 4 Be determined each day not to leave your function

unfulfilled.

W-pI.rII.in.6. Reaffirm your determination in the shorter practice periods as well,

using the original form of the idea for general applications, and more specific forms when

needed. 2 Some specific forms are included in the comments which follow the statement of the

ideas. 3 These, however, are merely suggestions. 4 It is not the particular words you use

that matter.

LESSON 81.

Our ideas for review today are:

W-pI.81.1. (61) I am the light of the world.

2 How holy am I, who have been given the function of lighting up the world! 3 Let me be

still before my holiness. 4 In its calm light let all my conflicts disappear. 5 In its

peace let me remember Who I am.

W-pI.81.2. Some specific forms for applying this idea when special difficulties seem to

arise might be:

2 Let me not obscure the light of the world in me.

3 Let the light of the world shine through this appearance.

4 This shadow will vanish before the light.

W-pI.81.3. (62) Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.

2 It is through accepting my function that I will see the light in me. 3 And in this

light will my function stand clear and perfectly unambiguous before my sight. 4 My

acceptance does not depend on my recognizing what my function is, for I do not yet understand

forgiveness. 5 Yet I will trust that, in the light, I will see it as it is.

W-pI.81.4. Specific forms for using this idea might include:

2 Let this help me learn what forgiveness means.

3 Let me not separate my function from my will.

4 I will not use this for an alien purpose.

LESSON 82.

We will review these ideas today:

W-pI.82.1. (63) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my

forgiveness.

2 My forgiveness is the means by which the light of the world finds expression through

me. 3 My forgiveness is the means by which I become aware of the light of the world in me.

4 My forgiveness is the means by which the world is healed, together with myself. 5

Let me, then, forgive the world, that it may be healed along with me.

W-pI.82.2. Suggestions for specific forms for applying this idea are:

2 Let peace extend from my mind to yours, [name].

3 I share the light of the world with you, [name].

4 Through my forgiveness I can see this as it is.

W-pI.82.3. (64) Let me not forget my function.

2 I would not forget my function, because I would remember my Self. 3 I cannot fulfill

my function if I forget it. 4 And unless I fulfill my function, I will not experience the

joy that God intends for me.

W-pI.82.4. Suitable specific forms of this idea include:

2 Let me not use this to hide my function from me.

3 I would use this as an opportunity to fulfill my function.

4 This may threaten my ego, but cannot change my function in any way.

LESSON 83.

Today let us review these ideas:

W-pI.83.1. (65) My only function is the one God gave me.

2 I have no function but the one God gave me. 3 This recognition releases me from all

conflict, because it means I cannot have conflicting goals. 4 With one purpose only, I am

always certain what to do, what to say and what to think. 5 All doubt must disappear as I

acknowledge that my only function is the one God gave me.

W-pI.83.2. More specific applications of this idea might take these forms:

2 My perception of this does not change my function.

3 This does not give me a function other than the one God gave me.

4 Let me not use this to justify a function God did not give me.

W-pI.83.3. (66) My happiness and my function are one.

2 All things that come from God are one. 3 They come from Oneness, and must be received

as one. 4 Fulfilling my function is my happiness because both come from the same Source.

5 And I must learn to recognize what makes me happy, if I would find happiness.

W-pI.83.4. Some useful forms for specific applications of this idea are:

2 This cannot separate my happiness from my function.

3 The oneness of my happiness and my function remains wholly unaffected by this.

4 Nothing, including this, can justify the illusion of happiness apart from my function.

LESSON 84.

These are the ideas for today's review:

W-pI.84.1. (67) Love created me like itself.

2 I am in the likeness of my Creator. 3 I cannot suffer, I cannot experience loss and I

cannot die. 4 I am not a body. 5 I would recognize my reality today. 6 I will worship

no idols, nor raise my own self-concept to replace my Self. 7 I am in the likeness of my

Creator. 8 Love created me like itself.

W-pI.84.2. You might find these specific forms helpful in applying the idea:

2 Let me not see an illusion of myself in this.

3 As I look on this, let me remember my Creator.

4 My Creator did not create this as I see it.

W-pI.84.3. (68) Love holds no grievances.

2 Grievances are completely alien to love. 3 Grievances attack love and keep its light

obscure. 4 If I hold grievances I am attacking love, and therefore attacking my Self. 5 My

Self thus becomes alien to me. 6 I am determined not to attack my Self today, so that I can

remember Who I am.

W-pI.84.4. These specific forms for applying this idea would be helpful:

2 This is no justification for denying my Self.

3 I will not use this to attack love.

4 Let this not tempt me to attack myself.

LESSON 85.

Today's review will cover these ideas:

W-pI.85.1. (69) My grievances hide the light of the world in me.

2 My grievances show me what is not there, and hide from me what I would see. 3

Recognizing this, what do I want my grievances for? 4 They keep me in darkness and hide the light.

5 Grievances and light cannot go together, but light and vision must be joined for me

to see. 6 To see, I must lay grievances aside. 7 I want to see, and this will be the

means by which I will succeed.

W-pI.85.2. Specific applications for this idea might be made in these forms:

2 Let me not use this as a block to sight.

3 The light of the world will shine all this away.

4 I have no need for this. 5 I want to see.

W-pI.85.3. (70) My salvation comes from me.

2 Today I will recognize where my salvation is. 3 It is in me because its Source is

there. 4 It has not left its Source, and so it cannot have left my mind. 5 I will not look

for it outside myself. 6 It is not found outside and then brought in. 7 But from within me

it will reach beyond, and everything I see will but reflect the light that shines in me

and in itself.

W-pI.85.4. These forms of the idea are suitable for more specific applications:

2 Let this not tempt me to look away from me for my salvation.

3 I will not let this interfere with my awareness of the Source of my salvation.

4 This has no power to remove salvation from me.

LESSON 86.

These ideas are for review today:

W-pI.86.1. (71) Only God's plan for salvation will work.

2 It is senseless for me to search wildly about for salvation. 3 I have seen it in many

people and in many things, but when I reached for it, it was not there. 4 I was

mistaken about where it is. 5 I was mistaken about what it is. 6 I will undertake no more idle

seeking. 7 Only God's plan for salvation will work. 8 And I will rejoice because His plan can

never fail.

W-pI.86.2. These are some suggested forms for applying this idea specifically:

2 God's plan for salvation will save me from my perception of this.

3 This is no exception in God's plan for my salvation.

4 Let me perceive this only in the light of God's plan for salvation.

W-pI.86.3. (72) Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.

2 Holding grievances is an attempt to prove that God's plan for salvation will not work.

3 Yet only His plan will work. 4 By holding grievances, I am therefore excluding my

only hope of salvation from my awareness. 5 I would no longer defeat my own best interests

in this insane way. 6 I would accept God's plan for salvation, and be happy.

W-pI.86.4. Specific applications for this idea might be in these forms:

2 I am choosing between misperception and salvation as I look on this.

3 If I see grounds for grievances in this, I will not see the grounds for my salvation.

4 This calls for salvation, not attack.

LESSON 87.

Our review today will cover these ideas:

W-pI.87.1. (73) I will there be light.

2 I will use the power of my will today. 3 It is not my will to grope about in darkness,

fearful of shadows and afraid of things unseen and unreal. 4 Light shall be my guide

today. 5 I will follow it where it leads me, and I will look only on what it shows me. 6

This day I will experience the peace of true perception.

W-pI.87.2. These forms of this idea would be helpful for specific applications:

2 This cannot hide the light I will to see.

3 You stand with me in light, [name].

4 In the light this will look different.

W-pI.87.3. (74) There is no will but God's.

2 I am safe today because there is no will but God's. 3 I can become afraid only when I

believe there is another will. 4 I try to attack only when I am afraid, and only when I

try to attack can I believe that my eternal safety is threatened. 5 Today I will

recognize that all this has not occurred. 6 I am safe because there is no will but God's.

W-pI.87.4. These are some useful forms of this idea for specific applications:

2 Let me perceive this in accordance with the Will of God.

3 It is God's Will you are His Son, [name], and mine as well.

4 This is part of God's Will for me, however I may see it.

LESSON 88.

Today we will review these ideas:

W-pI.88.1. (75) The light has come.

2 In choosing salvation rather than attack, I merely choose to recognize what is

already there. 3 Salvation is a decision made already. 4 Attack and grievances are not there

to choose. 5 That is why I always choose between truth and illusion; between what is

there and what is not. 6 The light has come. 7 I can but choose the light, for it has no

alternative. 8 It has replaced the darkness, and the darkness has gone.

W-pI.88.2. These would prove useful forms for specific applications of this idea:

2 This cannot show me darkness, for the light has come.

3 The light in you is all that I would see, [name].

4 I would see in this only what is there.

W-pI.88.3. (76) I am under no laws but God's.

2 Here is the perfect statement of my freedom. 3 I am under no laws but God's. 4 I am

constantly tempted to make up other laws and give them power over me. 5 I suffer only because of

my belief in them. 6 They have no real effect on me at all. 7 I am perfectly free of the

effects of all laws save God's. 8 And His are the laws of freedom.

W-pI.88.4. For specific forms in applying this idea, these would be useful:

2 My perception of this shows me I believe in laws that do not exist.

3 I see only the laws of God at work in this.

4 Let me allow God's laws to work in this, and not my own.

LESSON 89.

These are our review ideas for today:

W-pI.89.1. (77) I am entitled to miracles.

2 I am entitled to miracles because I am under no laws but God's. 3 His laws release me

from all grievances, and replace them with miracles. 4 And I would accept the miracles

in place of the grievances, which are but illusions that hide the miracles beyond. 5 Now

I would accept only what the laws of God entitle me to have, that I may use it on behalf

of the function He has given me.

W-pI.89.2. You might use these suggestions for specific applications of this idea:

2 Behind this is a miracle to which I am entitled.

3 Let me not hold a grievance against you, [name], but offer you the miracle that

belongs to you instead.

4 Seen truly, this offers me a miracle.

W-pI.89.3. (78) Let miracles replace all grievances.

2 By this idea do I unite my will with the Holy Spirit's, and perceive them as one. 3

By this idea do I accept my release from hell. 4 By this idea do I express my willingness

to have all my illusions be replaced with truth, according to God's plan for my

salvation. 5 I would make no exceptions and no substitutes. 6 I want all of Heaven and only

Heaven, as God wills me to have.

W-pI.89.4. Useful specific forms for applying this idea would be:

2 I would not hold this grievance apart from my salvation.

3 Let our grievances be replaced by miracles, [name].

4 Beyond this is the miracle by which all my grievances are replaced.

LESSON 90.

For this review we will use these ideas:

W-pI.90.1. (79) Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.

2 Let me realize today that the problem is always some form of grievance that I would

cherish. 3 Let me also understand that the solution is always a miracle with which I let the

grievance be replaced. 4 Today I would remember the simplicity of salvation by reinforcing the

lesson that there is one problem and one solution. 5 The problem is a grievance; the solution

is a miracle. 6 And I invite the solution to come to me through my forgiveness of the

grievance, and my welcome of the miracle that takes its place.

W-pI.90.2. Specific applications of this idea might be in these forms:

2 This presents a problem to me which I would have resolved.

3 The miracle behind this grievance will resolve it for me.

4 The answer to this problem is the miracle that it conceals.

W-pI.90.3. (80) Let me recognize my problems have been solved.

2 I seem to have problems only because I am misusing time. 3 I believe that the problem

comes first, and time must elapse before it can be worked out. 4 I do not see the

problem and the answer as simultaneous in their occurrence. 5 That is because I do not yet

realize that God has placed the answer together with the problem, so that they cannot be

separated by time. 6 The Holy Spirit will teach me this, if I will let Him. 7 And I will

understand it is impossible that I could have a problem which has not been solved already.

W-pI.90.4. These forms of the idea will be useful for specific applications:

2 I need not wait for this to be resolved.

3 The answer to this problem is already given me, if I will accept it.

4 Time cannot separate this problem from its solution.

LESSON 91.

Miracles are seen in light.

W-pI.91.1. It is important to remember that miracles and vision necessarily go together.

2 This needs repeating, and frequent repeating. 3 It is a central idea in your new

thought system, and the perception that it produces. 4 The miracle is always there. 5 Its

presence is not caused by your vision; its absence is not the result of your failure to see. 6

It is only your awareness of miracles that is affected. 7 You will see them in the light;

you will not see them in the dark.

W-pI.91.2. To you, then, light is crucial. 2 While you remain in darkness, the miracle

remains unseen. 3 Thus you are convinced it is not there. 4 This follows from the premises

from which the darkness comes. 5 Denial of light leads to failure to perceive it. 6 Failure

to perceive light is to perceive darkness. 7 The light is useless to you then, even

though it is there. 8 You cannot use it because its presence is unknown to you. 9 And the

seeming reality of the darkness makes the idea of light meaningless.

W-pI.91.3. To be told that what you do not see is there sounds like insanity. 2 It is

very difficult to become convinced that it is insanity not to see what is there, and to see

what is not there instead. 3 You do not doubt that the body's eyes can see. 4 You do

not doubt the images they show you are reality. 5 Your faith lies in the darkness, not the

light. 6 How can this be reversed? 7 For you it is impossible, but you are not alone in

this.

W-pI.91.4. Your efforts, however little they may be, have strong support. 2 Did you but

realize how great this strength, your doubts would vanish. 3 Today we will devote

ourselves to the attempt to let you feel this strength. 4 When you have felt the strength in you,

which makes all miracles within your easy reach, you will not doubt. 5 The miracles

your sense of weakness hides will leap into awareness as you feel the strength in you.

W-pI.91.5. Three times today, set aside about ten minutes for a quiet time in which you

try to leave your weakness behind. 2 This is accomplished very simply, as you instruct

yourself that you are not a body. 3 Faith goes to what you want, and you instruct your mind

accordingly. 4 Your will remains your teacher, and your will has all the strength to do what it

desires. 5 You can escape the body if you choose. 6 You can experience the strength in you.

W-pI.91.6. Begin the longer practice periods with this statement of true cause and

effect relationships:

2 Miracles are seen in light.

3 The body's eyes do not perceive the light.

4 But I am not a body. 5 What am I?

6 The question with which this statement ends is needed for our exercises today. 7 What

you think you are is a belief to be undone. 8 But what you really are must be revealed

to you. 9 The belief you are a body calls for correction, being a mistake. 10 The truth

of what you are calls on the strength in you to bring to your awareness what the mistake

conceals.

W-pI.91.7. If you are not a body, what are you? 2 You need to be aware of what the Holy

Spirit uses to replace the image of a body in your mind. 3 You need to feel something

to put your faith in, as you lift it from the body. 4 You need a real experience of

something else, something more solid and more sure; more worthy of your faith, and really there.

W-pI.91.8. If you are not a body, what are you? 2 Ask this in honesty, and then devote

several minutes to allowing your mistaken thoughts about your attributes to be corrected, and

their opposites to take their place. 3 Say, for example:

4 I am not weak, but strong.

5 I am not helpless, but all powerful.

6 I am not limited, but unlimited.

7 I am not doubtful, but certain.

8 I am not an illusion, but a reality.

9 I cannot see in darkness, but in light.

W-pI.91.9. In the second phase of the exercise period, try to experience these truths

about yourself. 2 Concentrate particularly on the experience of strength. 3 Remember that

all sense of weakness is associated with the belief you are a body, a belief that is

mistaken and deserves no faith. 4 Try to remove your faith from it, if only for a moment. 5 You

will be accustomed to keeping faith with the more worthy in you as we go along.

W-pI.91.10. Relax for the rest of the practice period, confident that your efforts,

however meager, are fully supported by the strength of God and all His Thoughts. 2 It is from

Them that your strength will come. 3 It is through Their strong support that you will feel

the strength in you. 4 They are united with you in this practice period, in which you

share a purpose like Their Own. 5 Theirs is the light in which you will see miracles,

because Their strength is yours. 6 Their strength becomes your eyes, that you may see.

W-pI.91.11. Five or six times an hour, at reasonably regular intervals, remind yourself

that miracles are seen in light. 2 Also, be sure to meet temptation with today's idea.

3 This form would be helpful for this special purpose:

4 Miracles are seen in light. 5 Let me not close my eyes because of this.

LESSON 92.

Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

W-pI.92.1. The idea for today is an extension of the previous one. 2 You do not think

of light in terms of strength, and darkness in terms of weakness. 3 That is because your

idea of what seeing means is tied up with the body and its eyes and brain. 4 Thus you

believe that you can change what you see by putting little bits of glass before your eyes. 5

This is among the many magical beliefs that come from the conviction you are a body, and

the body's eyes can see.

W-pI.92.2. You also believe the body's brain can think. 2 If you but understood the

nature of thought, you could but laugh at this insane idea. 3 It is as if you thought you

held the match that lights the sun and gives it all its warmth; or that you held the world

within your hand, securely bound until you let it go. 4 Yet this is no more foolish than to

believe the body's eyes can see; the brain can think.

W-pI.92.3. It is God's strength in you that is the light in which you see, as it is His

Mind with which you think. 2 His strength denies your weakness. 3 It is your weakness

that sees through the body's eyes, peering about in darkness to behold the likeness of

itself; the small, the weak, the sickly and the dying, those in need, the helpless and afraid,

the sad, the poor, the starving and the joyless. 4 These are seen through eyes that

cannot see and cannot bless.

W-pI.92.4. Strength overlooks these things by seeing past appearances. 2 It keeps its

steady gaze upon the light that lies beyond them. 3 It unites with light, of which it is a

part. 4 It sees itself. 5 It brings the light in which your Self appears. 6 In darkness you

perceive a self that is not there. 7 Strength is the truth about you; weakness is an

idol falsely worshipped and adored that strength may be dispelled, and darkness rule where

God appointed that there should be light.

W-pI.92.5. Strength comes from truth, and shines with light its Source has given it;

weakness reflects the darkness of its maker. 2 It is sick and looks on sickness, which is like

itself. 3 Truth is a savior and can only will for happiness and peace for everyone. 4 It

gives its strength to everyone who asks, in limitless supply. 5 It sees that lack in anyone

would be a lack in all. 6 And so it gives its light that all may see and benefit as one. 7

Its strength is shared, that it may bring to all the miracle in which they will unite in

purpose and forgiveness and in love.

W-pI.92.6. Weakness, which looks in darkness, cannot see a purpose in forgiveness and

in love. 2 It sees all others different from itself, and nothing in the world that it

would share. 3 It judges and condemns, but does not love. 4 In darkness it remains to hide

itself, and dreams that it is strong and conquering, a victor over limitations that but grow

in darkness to enormous size.

W-pI.92.7. It fears and it attacks and hates itself, and darkness covers everything it

sees, leaving its dreams as fearful as itself. 2 No miracles are here, but only hate. 3 It

separates itself from what it sees, while light and strength perceive themselves as one. 4 The

light of strength is not the light you see. 5 It does not change and flicker and go out. 6

It does not shift from night to day, and back to darkness till the morning comes again.

W-pI.92.8. The light of strength is constant, sure as love, forever glad to give itself

away, because it cannot give but to itself. 2 No one can ask in vain to share its sight,

and none who enters its abode can leave without a miracle before his eyes, and

strength and light abiding in his heart.

W-pI.92.9. The strength in you will offer you the light, and guide your seeing so you

do not dwell on idle shadows that the body's eyes provide for self-deception. 2 Strength

and light unite in you, and where they meet, your Self stands ready to embrace you as Its

Own. 3 Such is the meeting place we try today to find and rest in, for the peace of God is

where your Self, His Son, is waiting now to meet Itself again, and be as One.

W-pI.92.10. Let us give twenty minutes twice today to join this meeting. 2 Let yourself

be brought unto your Self. 3 Its strength will be the light in which the gift of sight

is given you. 4 Leave, then, the dark a little while today, and we will practice seeing

in the light, closing the body's eyes and asking truth to show us how to find the meeting

place of self and Self, where light and strength are one.

W-pI.92.11. Morning and evening we will practice thus. 2 After the morning meeting, we

will use the day in preparation for the time at night when we will meet again in trust. 3

Let us repeat as often as we can the idea for today, and recognize that we are being

introduced to sight, and led away from darkness to the light where only miracles can be perceived.

LESSON 93.

Light and joy and peace abide in me.

W-pI.93.1. You think you are the home of evil, darkness and sin. 2 You think if anyone

could see the truth about you he would be repelled, recoiling from you as if from a

poisonous snake. 3 You think if what is true about you were revealed to you, you would be struck

with horror so intense that you would rush to death by your own hand, living on after

seeing this being impossible.

W-pI.93.2. These are beliefs so firmly fixed that it is difficult to help you see that

they are based on nothing. 2 That you have made mistakes is obvious. 3 That you have sought

salvation in strange ways; have been deceived, deceiving and afraid of foolish

fantasies and savage dreams; and have bowed down to idols made of dust,--all this is true by

what you now believe.

W-pI.93.3. Today we question this, not from the point of view of what you think, but

from a very different reference point, from which such idle thoughts are meaningless. 2

These thoughts are not according to God's Will. 3 These weird beliefs He does not share with

you. 4 This is enough to prove that they are wrong, but you do not perceive that this

is so.

W-pI.93.4. Why would you not be overjoyed to be assured 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? 2 Your image of

yourself cannot withstand the Will of God. 3 You think that this is death, but it is life. 4

You think you are destroyed, but you are saved.

W-pI.93.5. The self you made is not the Son of God. 2 Therefore, this self does not

exist at all. 3 And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. 4 It is neither bad nor

good. 5 It is unreal, and nothing more than that. 6 It does not battle with the Son of

God. 7 It does not hurt him, nor attack his peace. 8 It has not changed creation, nor

reduced eternal sinlessness to sin, and love to hate. 9 What power can this self you made

possess, when it would contradict the Will of God?

W-pI.93.6. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. 2 Over and over this must be repeated,

until it is accepted. 3 It is true. 4 Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. 5 Nothing

can touch it, or change what God created as eternal. 6 The self you made, evil and full

of sin, is meaningless. 7 Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and

peace abide in you.

W-pI.93.7. Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought;--you are as God

created you, not what you made of yourself. 2 Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as

God created you. 3 Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. 4

Creation is eternal and unalterable. 5 Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. 6 You are and

will forever be exactly as you were created. 7 Light and joy and peace abide in you because

God put them there.

W-pI.93.8. In our longer exercise periods today, which would be most profitable if done

for the first five minutes of every waking hour, begin by stating the truth about your

creation:

2 Light and joy and peace abide in me.

3 My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

4 Then put away your foolish self-images, and spend the rest of the practice period in

trying to experience what God has given you, in place of what you have decreed for yourself.

W-pI.93.9. You are what God created or what you made. 2 One Self is true; the other is

not there. 3 Try to experience the unity of your one Self. 4 Try to appreciate Its

Holiness and the love from which It was created. 5 Try not to interfere with the Self which God

created as you, by hiding Its majesty behind the tiny idols of evil and sinfulness you

have made to replace It. 6 Let It come into Its Own. 7 Here you are; This is You. 8 And

light and joy and peace abide in you because this is so.

W-pI.93.10. You may not be willing or even able to use the first five minutes of each

hour for these exercises. 2 Try, however, to do so when you can. 3 At least remember to

repeat these thoughts each hour:

4 Light and joy and peace abide in me.

5 My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

6 Then try to devote at least a minute or so to closing your eyes and realizing that

this is a statement of the truth about you.

W-pI.93.11. If a situation arises that seems to be disturbing, quickly dispel the

illusion of fear by repeating these thoughts again. 2 Should you be tempted to become angry

with someone, tell him silently:

3 Light and joy and peace abide in you.

4 Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

5 You can do much for the world's salvation today. 6 You can do much today to bring you

closer to the part in salvation that God has assigned to you. 7 And you can do much

today to bring the conviction to your mind that the idea for the day is true indeed.

LESSON 94.

I am as God created me.

W-pI.94.1. Today we continue with the one idea which brings complete salvation; the one

statement which makes all forms of temptation powerless; the one thought which renders

the ego silent and entirely undone. 2 You are as God created you. 3 The sounds of this

world are still, the sights of this world disappear, and all the thoughts that this world

ever held are wiped away forever by this one idea. 4 Here is salvation accomplished. 5 Here

is sanity restored.

W-pI.94.2. True light is strength, and strength is sinlessness. 2 If you remain as God

created you, you must be strong and light must be in you. 3 He Who ensured your sinlessness

must be the guarantee of strength and light as well. 4 You are as God created you. 5

Darkness cannot obscure the glory of God's Son. 6 You stand in light, strong in the sinlessness

in which you were created, and in which you will remain throughout eternity.

W-pI.94.3. Today we will again devote the first five minutes of each waking hour to the

attempt to feel the truth in you. 2 Begin these times of searching with these words:

3 I am as God created me.

4 I am His Son eternally.

5 Now try to reach the Son of God in you. 6 This is the Self that never sinned, nor

made an image to replace reality. 7 This is the Self that never left Its home in God to

walk the world uncertainly. 8 This is the Self that knows no fear, nor could conceive of

loss or suffering or death.

W-pI.94.4. Nothing is required of you to reach this goal except to lay all idols and

self-images aside; go past the list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to

yourself; and wait in silent expectancy for the truth. 2 God has Himself promised that it will

be revealed to all who ask for it. 3 You are asking now. 4 You cannot fail because He

cannot fail.

W-pI.94.5. If you do not meet the requirement of practicing for the first five minutes

of every hour, at least remind yourself hourly:

2 I am as God created me.

3 I am His Son eternally.

4 Tell yourself frequently today that you are as God created you. 5 And be sure to

respond to anyone who seems to irritate you with these words:

6 You are as God created you.

7 You are His Son eternally.

8 Make every effort to do the hourly exercises today. 9 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.

LESSON 95.

I am one Self, united with my Creator.

W-pI.95.1. Today's idea accurately describes you as God created you. 2 You are one

within yourself, and one with Him. 3 Yours is the unity of all creation. 4 Your perfect unity

makes change in you impossible. 5 You do not accept this, and you fail to realize it

must be so, only because you believe that you have changed yourself already.

W-pI.95.2. You see yourself as a ridiculous parody on God's creation; weak, vicious,

ugly and sinful, miserable and beset with pain. 2 Such is your version of yourself; a self

divided into many warring parts, separate from God, and tenuously held together by its erratic

and capricious maker, to which you pray. 3 It does not hear your prayers, for it is

deaf. 4 It does not see the oneness in you, for it is blind. 5 It does not understand you

are the Son of God, for it is senseless and understands nothing.

W-pI.95.3. We will attempt today to be aware only of what can hear and see, and what

makes perfect sense. 2 We will again direct our exercises towards reaching your one Self,

which is united with Its Creator. 3 In patience and in hope we try again today.

W-pI.95.4. The use of the first five minutes of every waking hour for practicing the

idea for the day has special advantages at the stage of learning in which you are at

present. 2 It is difficult at this point not to allow your mind to wander, if it undertakes

extended practice. 3 You have surely realized this by now. 4 You have seen the extent of your

lack of mental discipline, and of your need for mind training. 5 It is necessary that you

be aware of this, for it is indeed a hindrance to your advance.

W-pI.95.5. Frequent but shorter practice periods have other advantages for you at this

time. 2 In addition to recognizing your difficulties with sustained attention, you must

also have noticed that, unless you are reminded of your purpose frequently, you tend to

forget about it for long periods of time. 3 You often fail to remember the short applications

of the idea for the day, and you have not yet formed the habit of using the idea as an

automatic response to temptation.

W-pI.95.6. Structure, then, is necessary for you at this time, planned to include

frequent reminders of your goal and regular attempts to reach it. 2 Regularity in terms of time

is not the ideal requirement for the most beneficial form of practice in salvation. 3

It is advantageous, however, for those whose motivation is inconsistent, and who remain

heavily defended against learning.

W-pI.95.7. We will, therefore, keep to the five-minutes-an-hour practice periods for a

while, and urge you to omit as few as possible. 2 Using the first five minutes of the hour

will be particularly helpful, since it imposes firmer structure. 3 Do not, however, use

your lapses from this schedule as an excuse not to return to it again as soon as you can. 4

There may well be a temptation to regard the day as lost because you have already

failed to do what is required. 5 This should, however, merely be recognized as what it is; a

refusal to let your mistake be corrected, and an unwillingness to try again.

W-pI.95.8. The Holy Spirit is not delayed in His teaching by your mistakes. 2 He can be

held back only by your unwillingness to let them go. 3 Let us therefore be determined,

particularly for the next week or so, to be willing to forgive ourselves for our lapses in

diligence, and our failures to follow the instructions for practicing the day's idea. 4 This

tolerance for weakness will enable us to overlook it, rather than give it power to delay our

learning. 5 If we give it power to do this, we are regarding it as strength, and are confusing

strength with weakness.

W-pI.95.9. When you fail to comply with the requirements of this course, you have

merely made a mistake. 2 This calls for correction, and for nothing else. 3 To allow a

mistake to continue is to make additional mistakes, based on the first and reinforcing it. 4

It is this process that must be laid aside, for it is but another way in which you would

defend illusions against the truth.

W-pI.95.10. Let all these errors go by recognizing them for what they are. 2 They are

attempts to keep you unaware you are one Self, united with your Creator, at one with every

aspect of creation, and limitless in power and in peace. 3 This is the truth, and nothing

else is true. 4 Today we will affirm this truth again, and try to reach the place in you in

which there is no doubt that only this is true.

W-pI.95.11. Begin the practice periods today with this assurance, offered to your mind

with all the certainty that you can give:

2 I am one Self, united with my Creator, at one with every aspect of creation, and

limitless in power and in peace.

3 Then close your eyes and tell yourself again, slowly and thoughtfully, attempting to

allow the meaning of the words to sink into your mind, replacing false ideas:

4 I am one Self.

5 Repeat this several times, and then attempt to feel the meaning that the words convey.

W-pI.95.12. You are one Self, united and secure in light and joy and peace. 2 You are

God's Son, one Self, with one Creator and one goal; to bring awareness of this oneness to

all minds, that true creation may extend the allness and the unity of God. 3 You are one

Self, complete and healed and whole, with power to lift the veil of darkness from the world,

and let the light in you come through to teach the world the truth about yourself.

W-pI.95.13. You are one Self, in perfect harmony with all there is, and all that there

will be. 2 You are one Self, the holy Son of God, united with your brothers in that Self;

united with your Father in His Will. 3 Feel this one Self in you, and let It shine away all

your illusions and your doubts. 4 This is your Self, the Son of God Himself, sinless as Its

Creator, with His strength within you and His Love forever yours. 5 You are one Self,

and it is given you to feel this Self within you, and to cast all your illusions out of

the one Mind that is this Self, the holy truth in you.

W-pI.95.14. Do not forget today. 2 We need your help; your little part in bringing

happiness to all the world. 3 And Heaven looks to you in confidence that you will try today. 4

Share, then, its surety, for it is yours. 5 Be vigilant. 6 Do not forget today. 7 Throughout

the day do not forget your goal. 8 Repeat today's idea as frequently as possible, and

understand each time you do so, someone hears the voice of hope, the stirring of the truth within

his mind, the gentle rustling of the wings of peace.

W-pI.95.15. Your own acknowledgment you are one Self, united with your Father, is a

call to all the world to be at one with you. 2 To everyone you meet today, be sure to give

the promise of today's idea and tell him this:

3 You are one Self with me, united with our Creator in this Self. 4 I honor you because

of What I am, and What He is, Who loves us both as one.

LESSON 96.

Salvation comes from my one Self.

W-pI.96.1. Although you are one Self, you experience yourself as two; as both good and

evil, loving and hating, mind and body. 2 This sense of being split into opposites induces

feelings of acute and constant conflict, and leads to frantic attempts to reconcile the

contradictory aspects of this self-perception. 3 You have sought many such solutions, and none of

them has worked. 4 The opposites you see in you will never be compatible. 5 But one exists.

W-pI.96.2. The fact that truth and illusion cannot be reconciled, no matter how you try,

what means you use and where you see the problem, must be accepted if you would be

saved. 2 Until you have accepted this, you will attempt an endless list of goals you cannot

reach; a senseless series of expenditures of time and effort, hopefulness and doubt, each

one as futile as the one before, and failing as the next one surely will.

W-pI.96.3. Problems that have no meaning cannot be resolved within the framework they

are set. 2 Two selves in conflict could not be resolved, and good and evil have no meeting

place. 3 The self you made can never be your Self, nor can your Self be split in two,

and still be what It is and must forever be. 4 A mind and body cannot both exist. 5 Make

no attempt to reconcile the two, for one denies the other can be real. 6 If you are

physical, your mind is gone from your self-concept, for it has no place in which it could be

really part of you. 7 If you are spirit, then the body must be meaningless to your reality.

W-pI.96.4. Spirit makes use of mind as means to find its Self expression. 2 And the

mind which serves the spirit is at peace and filled with joy. 3 Its power comes from spirit,

and it is fulfilling happily its function here. 4 Yet mind can also see itself

divorced from spirit, and perceive itself within a body it confuses with itself. 5 Without its

function then it has no peace, and happiness is alien to its thoughts.

W-pI.96.5. Yet mind apart from spirit cannot think. 2 It has denied its Source of

strength, and sees itself as helpless, limited and weak. 3 Dissociated from its function now,

it thinks it is alone and separate, attacked by armies massed against itself and hiding

in the body's frail support. 4 Now must it reconcile unlike with like, for this is what

it thinks that it is for.

W-pI.96.6. Waste no more time on this. 2 Who can resolve the senseless conflicts which

a dream presents? 3 What could the resolution mean in truth? 4 What purpose could it

serve? 5 What is it for? 6 Salvation cannot make illusions real, nor solve a problem that

does not exist. 7 Perhaps you hope it can. 8 Yet would you have God's plan for the release

of His dear Son bring pain to him, and fail to set him free?

W-pI.96.7. Your Self retains Its Thoughts, and they remain within your mind and in the

Mind of God. 2 The Holy Spirit holds salvation in your mind, and offers it the way to peace.

3 Salvation is a thought you share with God, because His Voice accepted it for you and

answered in your name that it was done. 4 Thus is salvation kept among the Thoughts

your Self holds dear and cherishes for you.

W-pI.96.8. We will attempt today to find this thought, whose presence in your mind is

guaranteed by Him Who speaks to you from your one Self. 2 Our hourly five-minute practicing will

be a search for Him within your mind. 3 Salvation comes from this one Self through Him

Who is the Bridge between your mind and It. 4 Wait patiently, and let Him speak to you

about your Self, and what your mind can do, restored to It and free to serve Its Will.

W-pI.96.9. Begin with saying this:

2 Salvation comes from my one Self. 3 Its Thoughts are mine to use.

4 Then seek Its Thoughts, and claim them as your own. 5 These are your own real

thoughts you have denied, and let your mind go wandering in a world of dreams, to find

illusions in their place. 6 Here are your thoughts, the only ones you have. 7 Salvation is among

them; find it there.

W-pI.96.10. If you succeed, the thoughts that come to you will tell you you are saved,

and that your mind has found the function that it sought to lose. 2 Your Self will welcome

it and give it peace. 3 Restored in strength, it will again flow out from spirit to the

spirit in all things created by the Spirit as Itself. 4 Your mind will bless all things.

5 Confusion done, you are restored, for you have found your Self.

W-pI.96.11. Your Self knows that you cannot fail today. 2 Perhaps your mind remains

uncertain yet a little while. 3 Be not dismayed by this. 4 The joy your Self experiences It will

save for you, and it will yet be yours in full awareness. 5 Every time you spend five

minutes of the hour seeking Him Who joins your mind and Self, you offer Him another treasure

to be kept for you.

W-pI.96.12. Each time today you tell your frantic mind salvation comes from your one

Self, you lay another treasure in your growing store. 2 And all of it is given everyone who

asks for it, and will accept the gift. 3 Think, then, how much is given unto you to

give this day, that it be given you!

LESSON 97.

I am spirit.

W-pI.97.1. Today's idea identifies you with your one Self. 2 It accepts no split

identity, nor tries to weave opposing factors into unity. 3 It simply states the truth. 4

Practice this truth today as often as you can, for it will bring your mind from conflict to the

quiet fields of peace. 5 No chill of fear can enter, for your mind has been absolved

from madness, letting go illusions of a split identity.

W-pI.97.2. We state again the truth about your Self, the holy Son of God Who rests in

you; whose mind has been restored to sanity. 2 You are the spirit lovingly endowed with

all your Father's Love and peace and joy. 3 You are the spirit which completes Himself,

and shares His function as Creator. 4 He is with you always, as you are with Him.

W-pI.97.3. Today we try to bring reality still closer to your mind. 2 Each time you

practice, awareness is brought a little nearer at least; sometimes a thousand years or more are

saved. 3 The minutes which you give are multiplied over and over, for the miracle makes

use of time, but is not ruled by it. 4 Salvation is a miracle, the first and last; the

first that is the last, for it is one.

W-pI.97.4. You are the spirit in whose mind abides the miracle in which all time stands

still; the miracle in which a minute spent in using these ideas becomes a time that has

no limit and that has no end. 2 Give, then, these minutes willingly, and count on Him

Who promised to lay timelessness beside them. 3 He will offer all His strength to every

little effort that you make. 4 Give Him the minutes which He needs today, to help you

understand with Him you are the spirit that abides in Him, and that calls through His Voice to

every living thing; offers His sight to everyone who asks; replaces error with the simple

truth.

W-pI.97.5. The Holy Spirit will be glad to take five minutes of each hour from your

hands, and carry them around this aching world where pain and misery appear to rule. 2 He

will not overlook one open mind that will accept the healing gifts they bring, and He will

lay them everywhere He knows they will be welcome. 3 And they will increase in healing

power each time someone accepts them as his thoughts, and uses them to heal.

W-pI.97.6. Thus will each gift to Him be multiplied a thousandfold and tens of

thousands more. 2 And when it is returned to you, 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 an

uncertain moment and goes out. 3 The steady brilliance of this light remains and leads you out

of darkness, nor will you be able to forget the way again.

W-pI.97.7. Begin these happy exercises with the words the Holy Spirit speaks to you,

and let them echo round the world through Him:

2 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.

3 Expressed through you, the Holy Spirit will accept this gift that you received of Him,

increase its power and give it back to you.

W-pI.97.8. Offer each practice period today gladly to Him. 2 And He will speak to you,

reminding you that you are spirit, one with Him and God, your brothers and your Self. 3 Listen

for His assurance every time you speak the words He offers you today, and let Him tell

your mind that they are true. 4 Use them against temptation, and escape its sorry

consequences if you yield to the belief that you are something else. 5 The Holy Spirit gives you

peace today. 6 Receive His words, and offer them to Him.

LESSON 98.

I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

W-pI.98.1. Today is a day of special dedication. 2 We take a stand on but one side

today. 3 We side with truth and let illusions go. 4 We will not vacillate between the two,

but take a firm position with the One. 5 We dedicate ourselves to truth today, and to

salvation as God planned it be. 6 We will not argue it is something else. 7 We will not seek for

it where it is not. 8 In gladness we accept it as it is, and take the part assigned to

us by God.

W-pI.98.2. How happy to be certain! 2 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. 3

We have a mighty purpose to fulfill, and have been given everything we need with which to

reach the goal. 4 Not one mistake stands in our way. 5 For we have been absolved from

errors. 6 All our sins are washed away by realizing they were but mistakes.

W-pI.98.3. The guiltless have no fear, for they are safe and recognize their safety. 2

They do not appeal to magic, nor invent escapes from fancied threats without reality. 3

They rest in quiet certainty that they will do what it is given them to do. 4 They do not

doubt their own ability because they know their function will be filled completely in the

perfect time and place. 5 They took the stand which we will take today, that we may share

their certainty and thus increase it by accepting it ourselves.

W-pI.98.4. 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. 2 Those still uncertain, too, will

join with us, and, borrowing our certainty, will make it stronger still. 3 While those as

yet unborn will hear the call we heard, and answer it when they have come to make their

choice again. 4 We do not choose but for ourselves today.

W-pI.98.5. Is it not worth five minutes of your time each hour to be able to accept the

happiness that God has given you? 2 Is it not worth five minutes hourly to recognize

your special function here? 3 Is not five minutes but a small request to make in terms of

gaining a reward so great it has no measure? 4 You have made a thousand losing bargains at the

least.

W-pI.98.6. Here is an offer guaranteeing you your full release from pain of every kind,

and joy the world does not contain. 2 You can exchange a little of your time for peace

of mind and certainty of purpose, with the promise of complete success. 3 And since time

has no meaning, you are being asked for nothing in return for everything. 4 Here is a

bargain that you cannot lose. 5 And what you gain is limitless indeed!

W-pI.98.7. Each hour today give Him your tiny gift of but five minutes. 2 He will give

the words you use in practicing today's idea the deep conviction and the certainty you

lack. 3 His words will join with yours, and make each repetition of today's idea a total

dedication, made in faith as perfect and as sure as His in you. 4 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. 5 Today you practice with Him, as you say:

6 I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

W-pI.98.8. In each five minutes that you spend with Him, He will accept your words and

give them back to you all bright with faith and confidence so strong and steady they will

light the world with hope and gladness. 2 Do not lose one chance to be the glad receiver of

His gifts, that you may give them to the world today.

W-pI.98.9. Give Him the words, and He will do the rest. 2 He will enable you to

understand your special function. 3 He will open up the way to happiness, and peace and trust

will be His gifts; His answer to your words. 4 He will respond with all His faith and joy

and certainty that what you say is true. 5 And you will have conviction then of Him Who

knows the function that you have on earth as well as Heaven. 6 He will be with you each

practice period you share with Him, exchanging every instant of the time you offer Him for

timelessness and peace.

W-pI.98.10. Throughout the hour, let your time be spent in happy preparation for the

next five minutes you will spend again with Him. 2 Repeat today's idea while you wait for

the glad time to come to you again. 3 Repeat it often, and do not forget each time you do

so, you have let your mind be readied for the happy time to come.

W-pI.98.11. And when the hour goes and He is there once more to spend a little time

with you, be thankful and lay down all earthly tasks, all little thoughts and limited ideas,

and spend a happy time again with Him. 2 Tell Him once more that you accept the part

that He would have you take and help you fill, and He will make you sure you want this

choice, which He has made with you and you with Him.

LESSON 99.

Salvation is my only function here.

W-pI.99.1. Salvation and forgiveness are the same. 2 They both imply that something has

gone wrong; something to be saved from, forgiven for; something amiss that needs

corrective change; something apart or different from the Will of God. 3 Thus do both terms imply

a thing impossible but yet which has occurred, resulting in a state of conflict seen

between what is and what could never be.

W-pI.99.2. Truth and illusions both are equal now, for both have happened. 2 The

impossible becomes the thing you need forgiveness for, salvation from. 3 Salvation now becomes

the borderland between the truth and the illusion. 4 It reflects the truth because it is

the means by which you can escape illusions. 5 Yet it is not yet the truth because it

undoes what was never done.

W-pI.99.3. How could there be a meeting place at all where earth and Heaven can be

reconciled within a mind where both of them exist? 2 The mind that sees illusions thinks them

real. 3 They have existence in that they are thoughts. 4 And yet they are not real, because

the mind that thinks these thoughts is separate from God.

W-pI.99.4. What joins the separated mind and thoughts with Mind and Thought which are

forever One? 2 What plan could hold the truth inviolate, yet recognize the need illusions

bring, and offer means by which they are undone without attack and with no touch of pain? 3

What but a Thought of God could be this plan, by which the never done is overlooked, and

sins forgotten which were never real?

W-pI.99.5. The Holy Spirit holds this plan of God exactly as it was received of Him

within the Mind of God and in your own. 2 It is apart from time in that its Source is

timeless. 3 Yet it operates in time, because of your belief that time is real. 4 Unshaken does

the Holy Spirit look on what you see; on sin and pain and death, on grief and separation

and on loss. 5 Yet does He know one thing must still be true; God is still Love, and this

is not His Will.

W-pI.99.6. This is the Thought that brings illusions to the truth, and sees them as

appearances behind which is the changeless and the sure. 2 This is the Thought that saves and that

forgives, because it lays no faith in what is not created by the only Source it knows.

3 This is the Thought whose function is to save by giving you its function as your own.

4 Salvation is your function, with the One to Whom the plan was given. 5 Now are you

entrusted with this plan, along with Him. 6 He has one answer to appearances; regardless of

their form, their size, their depth or any attribute they seem to have:

7 Salvation is my only function here.

8 God still is Love, and this is not His Will.

W-pI.99.7. You who will yet work miracles, be sure you practice well the idea for today.

2 Try to perceive the strength in what you say, for these are words in which your

freedom lies. 3 Your Father loves you. 4 All the world of pain is not His Will. 5 Forgive

yourself the thought He wanted this for you. 6 Then let the Thought with which He has replaced

all your mistakes enter the darkened places of your mind that thought the thoughts that

never were His Will.

W-pI.99.8. This part belongs to God, as does the rest. 2 It does not think its solitary

thoughts, and make them real by hiding them from Him. 3 Let in the light, and you will

look upon no obstacle to what He wills for you. 4 Open your secrets to His kindly light,

and see how bright this light still shines in you.

W-pI.99.9. Practice His Thought today, and let His light seek out and lighten up all

darkened spots, and shine through them to join them to the rest. 2 It is God's Will your mind

be one with His. 3 It is God's Will that He has but one Son. 4 It is God's Will that His

one Son is you. 5 Think of these things in practicing today, and start the lesson that we

learn today with this instruction in the way of truth:

6 Salvation is my only function here.

7 Salvation and forgiveness are the same.

8 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.

W-pI.99.10. Forgive all thoughts which would oppose the truth of your completion, unity

and peace. 2 You cannot lose the gifts your Father gave. 3 You do not want to be

another self. 4 You have no function that is not of God. 5 Forgive yourself the one you think

you made. 6 Forgiveness and salvation are the same. 7 Forgive what you have made and you

are saved.

W-pI.99.11. There is a special message for today which has the power to remove all

forms of doubt and fear forever from your mind. 2 If you are tempted to believe them true,

remember that appearances can not withstand the truth these mighty words contain:

3 Salvation is my only function here.

4 God still is Love, and this is not His Will.

W-pI.99.12. Your only function tells you you are one. 2 Remind yourself of this between

the times you give five minutes to be shared with Him Who shares God's plan with you. 3

Remind yourself:

4 Salvation is my only function here.

5 Thus do you lay forgiveness on your mind and let all fear be gently laid aside, that

love may find its rightful place in you and show you that you are the Son of God.

LESSON 100.

My part is essential to God's plan for salvation.

W-pI.100.1. Just as God's Son completes his Father, so your part in it completes your

Father's plan. 2 Salvation must reverse the mad belief in separate thoughts and separate bodies,

which lead separate lives and go their separate ways. 3 One function shared by

separate minds unites them in one purpose, for each one of them is equally essential to them

all.

W-pI.100.2. God's Will for you is perfect happiness. 2 Why should you choose to go

against His Will? 3 The part that He has saved for you to take in working out His plan is

given you that you might be restored to what He wills. 4 This part is as essential to His

plan as to your happiness. 5 Your joy must be complete to let His plan be understood by

those to whom He sends you. 6 They will see their function in your shining face, and hear

God calling to them in your happy laugh.

W-pI.100.3. You are indeed essential to God's plan. 2 Without your joy, His joy is

incomplete. 3 Without your smile, the world cannot be saved. 4 While you are sad, the light that

God Himself appointed as the means to save the world is dim and lusterless, and no one

laughs because all laughter can but echo yours.

W-pI.100.4. You are indeed essential to God's plan. 2 Just as your light increases

every light that shines in Heaven, so your joy on earth calls to all minds to let their

sorrows go, and take their place beside you in God's plan. 3 God's messengers are joyous, and

their joy heals sorrow and despair. 4 They are the proof that God wills perfect happiness

for all who will accept their Father's gifts as theirs.

W-pI.100.5. We will not let ourselves be sad today. 2 For if we do, we fail to take the

part that is essential to God's plan, as well as to our vision. 3 Sadness is the sign

that you would play another part, instead of what has been assigned to you by God. 4 Thus

do you fail to show the world how great the happiness He wills for you. 5 And so you do

not recognize that it is yours.

W-pI.100.6. Today we will attempt to understand joy is our function here. 2 If you are

sad, your part is unfulfilled, and all the world is thus deprived of joy, along with you.

3 God asks you to be happy, so the world can see how much He loves His Son, and wills no

sorrow rises to abate his joy; no fear besets him to disturb his peace. 4 You are God's

messenger today. 5 You bring His happiness to all you look upon; His peace to everyone

who looks on you and sees His message in your happy face.

W-pI.100.7. We will prepare ourselves for this today, in our five-minute practice

periods, by feeling happiness arise in us according to our Father's Will and ours. 2 Begin the

exercises with the thought today's idea contains. 3 Then realize your part is to be

happy. 4 Only this is asked of you or anyone who wants to take his place among God's

messengers. 5 Think what this means. 6 You have indeed been wrong in your belief that sacrifice

is asked. 7 You but receive according to God's plan, and never lose or sacrifice or die.

W-pI.100.8. Now let us try to find that joy that proves to us and all the world God's

Will for us. 2 It is your function that you find it here, and that you find it now. 3 For

this you came. 4 Let this one be the day that you succeed! 5 Look deep within you,

undismayed by all the little thoughts and foolish goals you pass as you ascend to meet the Christ

in you.

W-pI.100.9. He will be there. 2 And you can reach Him now. 3 What could you rather look

upon in place of Him Who waits that you may look on Him? 4 What little thought has

power to hold you back? 5 What foolish goal can keep you from success when He Who calls to

you is God Himself?

W-pI.100.10. He will be there. 2 You are essential to His plan. 3 You are His messenger

today. 4 And you must find what He would have you give. 5 Do not forget the idea for

today between your hourly practice periods. 6 It is your Self Who calls to you today. 7 And

it is Him you answer, every time you tell yourself you are essential to God's plan for

the salvation of the world.

LESSON 101.

God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

W-pI.101.1. Today we will continue with the theme of happiness. 2 This is a key idea in

understanding what salvation means. 3 You still believe it asks for suffering as

penance for your "sins." 4 This is not so. 5 Yet you must think it so while you believe that

sin is real, and that God's Son can sin.

W-pI.101.2. If sin is real, then punishment is just and cannot be escaped. 2 Salvation

thus cannot be purchased but through suffering. 3 If sin is real, then happiness must be

illusion, for they cannot both be true. 4 The sinful warrant only death and pain, and it is

this they ask for. 5 For they know it waits for them, and it will seek them out and find

them somewhere, sometime, in some form that evens the account they owe to God. 6 They would

escape Him in their fear. 7 And yet He will pursue, and they can not escape.

W-pI.101.3. If sin is real, salvation must be pain. 2 Pain is the cost of sin, and

suffering can never be escaped, if sin is real. 3 Salvation must be feared, for it will kill,

but slowly, taking everything away before it grants the welcome boon of death to victims

who are little more than bones before salvation is appeased. 4 Its wrath is boundless,

merciless, but wholly just.

W-pI.101.4. Who would seek out such savage punishment? 2 Who would not flee salvation,

and attempt in every way he can to drown the Voice which offers it to him? 3 Why would he

try to listen and accept Its offering? 4 If sin is real, its offering is death, and meted

out in cruel form to match the vicious wishes in which sin is born. 5 If sin is real,

salvation has become your bitter enemy, the curse of God upon you who have crucified His Son.

W-pI.101.5. You need the practice periods today. 2 The exercises teach sin is not real,

and all that you believe must come from sin will never happen, for it has no cause. 3

Accept Atonement with an open mind, which cherishes no lingering belief that you have made a

devil of God's Son. 4 There is no sin. 5 We practice with this thought as often as we can

today, because it is the basis for today's idea.

W-pI.101.6. God's Will for you is perfect happiness because there is no sin, and

suffering is causeless. 2 Joy is just, and pain is but the sign you have misunderstood yourself.

3 Fear not the Will of God. 4 But turn to it in confidence that it will set you free

from all the consequences sin has wrought in feverish imagination. 5 Say:

6 God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

7 There is no sin; it has no consequence.

8 So should you start your practice periods, and then attempt again to find the joy

these thoughts will introduce into your mind.

W-pI.101.7. Give these five minutes gladly, to remove the heavy load you lay upon

yourself with the insane belief that sin is real. 2 Today escape from madness. 3 You are set on

freedom's road, and now today's idea brings wings to speed you on, and hope to go still

faster to the waiting goal of peace. 4 There is no sin. 5 Remember this today, and tell

yourself as often as you can:

6 God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

7 This is the truth, because there is no sin.

LESSON 102.

I share God's Will for happiness for me.

W-pI.102.1. You do not want to suffer. 2 You may think it buys you something, and may

still believe a little that it buys you what you want. 3 Yet this belief is surely shaken

now, at least enough to let you question it, and to suspect it really makes no sense. 4 It

has not gone as yet, but lacks the roots that once secured it tightly to the dark and

hidden secret places of your mind.

W-pI.102.2. Today we try to loose its weakened hold still further, and to realize that

pain is purposeless, without a cause and with no power to accomplish anything. 2 It cannot

purchase anything at all. 3 It offers nothing, and does not exist. 4 And everything you think

it offers you is lacking in existence, like itself. 5 You have been slave to nothing. 6

Be you free today to join the happy Will of God.

W-pI.102.3. For several days we will continue to devote our periods of practicing to

exercises planned to help you reach the happiness God's Will has placed in you. 2 Here is your

home, and here your safety is. 3 Here is your peace, and here there is no fear. 4 Here is

salvation. 5 Here is rest at last.

W-pI.102.4. Begin your practice periods today with this acceptance of God's Will for

you:

2 I share God's Will for happiness for me, and I accept it as my function now.

3 Then seek this function deep within your mind, for it is there, awaiting but your

choice. 4 You cannot fail to find it when you learn it is your choice, and that you share

God's Will.

W-pI.102.5. Be happy, for your only function here is happiness. 2 You have no need to

be less loving to God's Son than He Whose Love created him as loving as Himself. 3

Besides these hourly five-minute rests, pause frequently today, to tell yourself that you have

now accepted happiness as your one function. 4 And be sure that you are joining with

God's Will in doing this.

LESSON 103.

God, being Love, is also happiness.

W-pI.103.1. Happiness is an attribute of love. 2 It cannot be apart from it. 3 Nor can

it be experienced where love is not. 4 Love has no limits, being everywhere. 5 And

therefore joy is everywhere as well. 6 Yet can the mind deny that this is so, believing there

are gaps in love where sin can enter, bringing pain instead of joy. 7 This strange belief

would limit happiness by redefining love as limited, and introducing opposition in what has

no limit and no opposite.

W-pI.103.2. Fear is associated then with love, and its results become the heritage of

minds that think what they have made is real. 2 These images, with no reality in truth, bear

witness to the fear of God, forgetting being Love, He must be joy. 3 This basic error

we will try again to bring to truth today, and teach ourselves:

4 God, being Love, is also happiness.

5 To fear Him is to be afraid of joy.

6 Begin your periods of practicing today with this association, which corrects the

false belief that God is fear. 7 It also emphasizes happiness belongs to you, because of

what He is.

W-pI.103.3. Allow this one correction to be placed within your mind each waking hour

today. 2 Then welcome all the happiness it brings as truth replaces fear, and joy becomes

what you expect to take the place of pain. 3 God, being Love, it will be given you. 4

Bolster this expectation frequently throughout the day, and quiet all your fears with this

assurance, kind and wholly true:

5 God, being Love, is also happiness.

6 And it is happiness I seek today.

7 I cannot fail, because I seek the truth.

LESSON 104.

I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

W-pI.104.1. Today's idea continues with the thought that joy and peace are not but idle

dreams. 2 They are your right, because of what you are. 3 They come to you from God,

Who cannot fail to give you what He wills. 4 Yet must there be a place made ready to

receive His gifts. 5 They are not welcomed gladly by a mind that has instead received the

gifts it made where His belong, as substitutes for them.

W-pI.104.2. Today we would remove all meaningless and self-made gifts which we have

placed upon the holy altar where God's gifts belong. 2 His are the gifts that are our own in

truth. 3 His are the gifts that we inherited before time was, and that will still be ours

when time has passed into eternity. 4 His are the gifts that are within us now, for they

are timeless. 5 And we need not wait to have them. 6 They belong to us today.

W-pI.104.3. Therefore, we choose to have them now, and know, in choosing them in place

of what we made, we but unite our will with what God wills, and recognize the same as

being one. 2 Our longer practice periods today, the hourly five minutes given truth for your

salvation, should begin with this:

3 I seek but what belongs to me in truth, And joy and peace are my inheritance.

4 Then lay aside the conflicts of the world that offer other gifts and other goals made

of illusions, witnessed to by them, and sought for only in a world of dreams.

W-pI.104.4. All this we lay aside, and seek instead that which is truly ours, as we ask

to recognize what God has given us. 2 We clear a holy place within our minds before His

altar, where His gifts of peace and joy are welcome, and to which we come to find what

has been given us by Him. 3 We come in confidence today, aware that what belongs to us in

truth is what He gives. 4 And we would wish for nothing else, for nothing else belongs to us

in truth.

W-pI.104.5. So do we clear the way for Him today by simply recognizing that His Will is

done already, and that joy and peace belong to us as His eternal gifts. 2 We will not

let ourselves lose sight of them between the times we come to seek for them where He has

laid them. 3 This reminder will we bring to mind as often as we can:

4 I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

5 God's gifts of joy and peace are all I want.

LESSON 105.

God's peace and joy are mine.

W-pI.105.1. God's peace and joy are yours. 2 Today we will accept them, knowing they

belong to us. 3 And we will try to understand these gifts increase as we receive them. 4 They

are not like to the gifts the world can give, in which the giver loses as he gives the

gift; the taker is the richer by his loss. 5 Such are not gifts, but bargains made with

guilt. 6 The truly given gift entails no loss. 7 It is impossible that one can gain because

another loses. 8 This implies a limit and an insufficiency.

W-pI.105.2. No gift is given thus. 2 Such "gifts" are but a bid for a more valuable

return; a loan with interest to be paid in full; a temporary lending, meant to be a pledge of

debt to be repaid with more than was received by him who took the gift. 3 This strange

distortion of what giving means pervades all levels of the world you see. 4 It strips all meaning

from the gifts you give, and leaves you nothing in the ones you take.

W-pI.105.3. A major learning goal this course has set is to reverse your view of giving,

so you can receive. 2 For giving has become a source of fear, and so you would avoid

the only means by which you can receive. 3 Accept God's peace and joy, and you will learn

a different way of looking at a gift. 4 God's gifts will never lessen when they are

given away. 5 They but increase thereby.

W-pI.105.4. As Heaven's peace and joy intensify when you accept them as God's gift to

you, so does the joy of your Creator grow when you accept His joy and peace as yours. 2

True giving is creation. 3 It extends the limitless to the unlimited, eternity to

timelessness, and love unto itself. 4 It adds to all that is complete already, not in simple terms

of adding more, for that implies that it was less before. 5 It adds by letting what

cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving everything it has away, securing it forever

for itself.

W-pI.105.5. Today accept God's peace and joy as yours. 2 Let Him complete Himself as He

defines completion. 3 You will understand that what completes Him must complete His Son

as well. 4 He cannot give through loss. 5 No more can you. 6 Receive His gift of joy

and peace today, and He will thank you for your gift to Him.

W-pI.105.6. Today our practice periods will start a little differently. 2 Begin today

by thinking of those brothers who have been denied by you the peace and joy that are

their right under the equal laws of God. 3 Here you denied them to yourself. 4 And here you

must return to claim them as your own.

W-pI.105.7. Think of your "enemies" a little while, and tell each one, as he occurs to

you:

2 My brother, peace and joy I offer you, That I may have God's peace and joy as mine.

3 Thus you prepare yourself to recognize God's gifts to you, and let your mind be free

of all that would prevent success today. 4 Now are you ready to accept the gift of peace

and joy that God has given you. 5 Now are you ready to experience the joy and peace you

have denied yourself. 6 Now you can say, "God's peace and joy are mine," for you have given

what you would receive.

W-pI.105.8. You must succeed today, if you prepare your mind as we suggest. 2 For you

have let all bars to peace and joy be lifted up, and what is yours can come to you at last.

3 So tell yourself, "God's peace and joy are mine," and close your eyes a while, and

let His Voice assure you that the words you speak are true.

W-pI.105.9. Spend your five minutes thus with Him each time you can today, but do not

think that less is worthless when you cannot give Him more. 2 At least remember hourly to

say the words which call to Him to give you what He wills to give, and wills you to

receive. 3 Determine not to interfere today with what He wills. 4 And if a brother seems to

tempt you to deny God's gift to him, see it as but another chance to let yourself receive

the gifts of God as yours. 5 Then bless your brother thankfully, and say:

6 My brother, peace and joy I offer you, That I may have God's peace and joy as mine.

LESSON 106.

Let me be still and listen to the truth.

W-pI.106.1. If you will lay aside the ego's voice, however loudly it may seem to call,

if you will not accept its petty gifts that give you nothing that you really want; if you

will listen with an open mind, that has not told you what salvation is; then you will

hear the mighty Voice of truth, quiet in power, strong in stillness, and completely certain

in Its messages.

W-pI.106.2. Listen, and hear your Father speak to you through His appointed Voice,

which silences the thunder of the meaningless, and shows the way to peace to those who

cannot see. 2 Be still today and listen to the truth. 3 Be not deceived by voices of the dead,

which tell you they have found the source of life and offer it to you for your belief.

4 Attend them not, but listen to the truth.

W-pI.106.3. Be not afraid today to circumvent the voices of the world. 2 Walk lightly

past their meaningless persuasion. 3 Hear them not. 4 Be still today and listen to the

truth. 5 Go past all things which do not speak of Him Who holds your happiness within His

Hand, held out to you in welcome and in love. 6 Hear only Him today, and do not wait to

reach Him longer. 7 Hear one Voice today.

W-pI.106.4. Today the promise of God's Word is kept. 2 Hear and be silent. 3 He would

speak to you. 4 He comes with miracles a thousand times as happy and as wonderful as those

you ever dreamed or wished for in your dreams. 5 His miracles are true. 6 They will not

fade when dreaming ends. 7 They end the dream instead; and last forever, for they come from

God to His dear Son, whose other name is you. 8 Prepare yourself for miracles today. 9

Today allow your Father's ancient pledge to you and all your brothers to be kept.

W-pI.106.5. Hear Him today, and listen to the Word which lifts the veil that lies upon

the earth, and wakes all those who sleep and cannot see. 2 God calls to them through you.

3 He needs your voice to speak to them, for who could reach God's Son except his Father,

calling through your Self? 4 Hear Him today, and offer Him your voice to speak to all

the multitude who wait to hear the Word that He will speak today.

W-pI.106.6. Be ready for salvation. 2 It is here, and will today be given unto you. 3

And you will learn your function from the One Who chose it in your Father's Name for you.

4 Listen today, and you will hear a Voice which will resound throughout the world

through you. 5 The bringer of all miracles has need that you receive them first, and thus

become the joyous giver of what you received.

W-pI.106.7. Thus does salvation start and thus it ends; when everything is yours and

everything is given away, it will remain with you forever. 2 And the lesson has been learned. 3

Today we practice giving, not the way you understand it now, but as it is. 4 Each hour's

exercises should begin with this request for your enlightenment:

5 I will be still and listen to the truth.

6 What does it mean to give and to receive?

W-pI.106.8. Ask and expect an answer. 2 Your request is one whose answer has been

waiting long to be received by you. 3 It will begin the ministry for which you came, and which

will free the world from thinking giving is a way to lose. 4 And so the world becomes

ready to understand and to receive.

W-pI.106.9. Be still and listen to the truth today. 2 For each five minutes spent in

listening, a thousand minds are opened to the truth and they will hear the holy Word you hear. 3

And when the hour is past, you will again release a thousand more who pause to ask that

truth be given them, along with you.

W-pI.106.10. Today the holy Word of God is kept through your receiving it to give away,

so you can teach the world what giving means by listening and learning it of Him. 2 Do

not forget today to reinforce your choice to hear and to receive the Word by this reminder,

given to yourself as often as is possible today:

3 Let me be still and listen to the truth.

4 I am the messenger of God today, My voice is His, to give what I receive.

LESSON 107.

Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

W-pI.107.1. What can correct illusions but the truth? 2 And what are errors but

illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? 3 Where truth has entered errors disappear.

4 They merely vanish, leaving not a trace by which to be remembered. 5 They are gone

because, without belief, they have no life. 6 And so they disappear to nothingness, returning

whence they came. 7 From dust to dust they come and go, for only truth remains.

W-pI.107.2. Can you imagine what a state of mind without illusions is? 2 How it would

feel? 3 Try to remember when there was a time,--perhaps a minute, maybe even less--when

nothing came to interrupt your peace; when you were certain you were loved and safe. 4 Then

try to picture what it would be like to have that moment be extended to the end of time

and to eternity. 5 Then let the sense of quiet that you felt be multiplied a hundred times,

and then be multiplied another hundred more.

W-pI.107.3. And now you have a hint, not more than just the faintest intimation of the

state your mind will rest in when the truth has come. 2 Without illusions there could be no

fear, no doubt and no attack. 3 When truth has come all pain is over, for there is no room

for transitory thoughts and dead ideas to linger in your mind. 4 Truth occupies your mind

completely, liberating you from all beliefs in the ephemeral. 5 They have no place because the

truth has come, and they are nowhere. 6 They can not be found, for truth is everywhere

forever, now.

W-pI.107.4. When truth has come it does not stay a while, to disappear or change to

something else. 2 It does not shift and alter in its form, nor come and go and go and come again.

3 It stays exactly as it always was, to be depended on in every need, and trusted with

a perfect trust in all the seeming difficulties and the doubts that the appearances the

world presents engender. 4 They will merely blow away, when truth corrects the errors

in your mind.

W-pI.107.5. When truth has come it harbors in its wings the gift of perfect constancy,

and love which does not falter in the face of pain, but looks beyond it, steadily and sure.

2 Here is the gift of healing, for the truth needs no defense, and therefore no attack

is possible. 3 Illusions can be brought to truth to be corrected. 4 But the truth

stands far beyond illusions, and can not be brought to them to turn them into truth.

W-pI.107.6. Truth does not come and go nor shift nor change, in this appearance now and

then in that, evading capture and escaping grasp. 2 It does not hide. 3 It stands in

open light, in obvious accessibility. 4 It is impossible that anyone could seek it truly,

and would not succeed. 5 Today belongs to truth. 6 Give truth its due, and it will give

you yours. 7 You were not meant to suffer and to die. 8 Your Father wills these dreams be

gone. 9 Let truth correct them all.

W-pI.107.7. We do not ask for what we do not have. 2 We merely ask for what belongs to

us, that we may recognize it as our own. 3 Today we practice on the happy note of

certainty that has been born of truth. 4 The shaky and unsteady footsteps of illusion are not

our approach today. 5 We are as certain of success as we are sure we live and hope and

breathe and think. 6 We do not doubt we walk with truth today, and count on it to enter into

all the exercises that we do this day.

W-pI.107.8. Begin by asking Him Who goes with you upon this undertaking that He be in

your awareness as you go with Him. 2 You are not made of flesh and blood and bone, but were

created by the selfsame Thought which gave the gift of life to Him as well. 3 He is

your Brother, and so like to you your Father knows that You are Both the same. 4 It is your

Self you ask to go with you, and how could He be absent where you are?

W-pI.107.9. Truth will correct all errors in your mind which tell you you could be

apart from Him. 2 You speak to Him today, and make your pledge to let His function be

fulfilled through you. 3 To share His function is to share His joy. 4 His confidence is with you,

as you say:

5 Truth will correct all errors in my mind, And I will rest in Him Who is my Self.

6 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.

W-pI.107.10. And yet you will be glad to look again upon this world. 2 For you will

bring with you the promise of the changes which the truth that goes with you will carry to

the world. 3 They will increase with every gift you give of five small minutes, and the

errors that surround the world will be corrected as you let them be corrected in your mind.

W-pI.107.11. Do not forget your function for today. 2 Each time you tell yourself with

confidence, "Truth will correct all errors in my mind," you speak for all the world and Him Who

would release the world, as He would set you free.

LESSON 108.

To give and to receive are one in truth.

W-pI.108.1. Vision depends upon today's idea. 2 The light is in it, for it reconciles

all seeming opposites. 3 And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all

your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? 4 Even that one

will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. 5

And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.

W-pI.108.2. True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body's eyes

behold. 2 It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be

perceived at all. 3 And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains

unnoticed, for it is not there.

W-pI.108.3. This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has

power to heal. 2 This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share

it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves. 3 This is the light that

heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one

meaning comes.

W-pI.108.4. Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one Thought

whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first, nor which appears to be in

second place. 2 Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain

complete. 3 And in this understanding is the base on which all opposites are reconciled,

because they are perceived from the same frame of reference which unifies this Thought.

W-pI.108.5. One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought. 2 This is

the same as saying one correction will suffice for all correction, or that to forgive

one brother wholly is enough to bring salvation to all minds. 3 For these are but some

special cases of one law which holds for every kind of learning, if it be directed by the One

Who knows the truth.

W-pI.108.6. To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness,

because it can be tried so easily and seen as true. 2 And when this special case has proved it

always works, in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be

generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision. 3 And from there it will extend, and

finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all.

W-pI.108.7. Today we practice with the special case of giving and receiving. 2 We will

use this simple lesson in the obvious because it has results we cannot miss. 3 To give is

to receive. 4 Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace

returns to us. 5 Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can

see.

W-pI.108.8. So we begin the practice periods with the instruction for today, and say:

2 To give and to receive are one in truth.

3 I will receive what I am giving now.

4 Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to

everyone, to have it yours. 5 You might, for instance, say:

6 To everyone I offer quietness.

7 To everyone I offer peace of mind.

8 To everyone I offer gentleness.

W-pI.108.9. Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift

you gave. 2 And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it. 3 You will find

you have exact return, for that is what you asked. 4 It might be helpful, too, to think of

one to whom to give your gifts. 5 He represents the others, and through him you give to

all.

W-pI.108.10. Our very simple lesson for today will teach you much. 2 Effect and cause

will be far better understood from this time on, and we will make much faster progress now.

3 Think of the exercises for today as quick advances in your learning, made still

faster and more sure each time you say, "To give and to receive are one in truth."

LESSON 109.

I rest in God.

W-pI.109.1. We ask for rest today, and quietness unshaken by the world's appearances. 2

We ask for peace and stillness, in the midst of all the turmoil born of clashing dreams.

3 We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on

sorrow. 4 And we have the thought that will answer our asking with what we request.

W-pI.109.2. "I rest in God." 2 This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace

and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek. 3 "I rest in God." 4 This

thought has power to wake the sleeping truth in you, whose vision sees beyond appearances to

that same truth in everyone and everything there is. 5 Here is the end of suffering for all

the world, and everyone who ever came and yet will come to linger for a while. 6 Here

is the thought in which the Son of God is born again, to recognize himself.

W-pI.109.3. "I rest in God." 2 Completely undismayed, this thought will carry you

through storms and strife, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the

certainty of God. 3 There is no suffering it cannot heal. 4 There is no problem that it cannot

solve. 5 And no appearance but will turn to truth before the eyes of you who rest in God.

W-pI.109.4. This is the day of peace. 2 You rest in God, and while the world is torn by

winds of hate your rest remains completely undisturbed. 3 Yours is the rest of truth. 4

Appearances cannot intrude on you. 5 You call to all to join you in your rest, and they

will hear and come to you because you rest in God. 6 They will not hear another voice

than yours because you gave your voice to God, and now you rest in Him and let Him speak

through you.

W-pI.109.5. In Him you have no cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain,

no fear of future and no past regrets. 2 In timelessness you rest, while time goes by

without its touch upon you, for your rest can never change in any way at all. 3 You rest today.

4 And as you close your eyes, sink into stillness. 5 Let these periods of rest and

respite reassure your mind that all its frantic fantasies were but the dreams of fever that

has passed away. 6 Let it be still and thankfully accept its healing. 7 No more fearful

dreams will come, now that you rest in God. 8 Take time today to slip away from dreams and

into peace.

W-pI.109.6. Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad,

a bird with broken wings begins to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again. 2 The

world is born again each time you rest, and hourly remember that you came to bring the

peace of God into the world, that it might take its rest along with you.

W-pI.109.7. With each five minutes that you rest today, the world is nearer waking. 2

And the time when rest will be the only thing there is comes closer to all worn and tired

minds, too weary now to go their way alone. 3 And they will hear the bird begin to sing and

see the stream begin to flow again, with hope reborn and energy restored to walk with

lightened steps along the road that suddenly seems easy as they go.

W-pI.109.8. 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. 2 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. 3 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.

W-pI.109.9. You rest within the peace of God today, quiet and unafraid. 2 Each brother

comes to take his rest, and offer it to you. 3 We rest together here, for thus our rest is

made complete, and what we give today we have received already. 4 Time is not the guardian

of what we give today. 5 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. 6 And we

remind them of their resting place each time we tell ourselves, "I rest in God."

LESSON 110.

I am as God created me.

W-pI.110.1. We will repeat today's idea from time to time. 2 For this one thought would

be enough to save you and the world, if you believed that it is true. 3 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. 4 If you

remain as God created you fear has no meaning, evil is not real, and misery and death do not

exist.

W-pI.110.2. Today's idea is therefore all you need to let complete correction heal your

mind, and give you perfect vision that will heal all the mistakes that any mind has

made at any time or place. 2 It is enough to heal the past and make the future free. 3 It

is enough to let the present be accepted as it is. 4 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.

W-pI.110.3. If you remain as God created you, appearances cannot replace the truth,

health cannot turn to sickness, nor can death be substitute for life, or fear for love. 2 All

this has not occurred, if you remain as God created you. 3 You need no thought but just

this one, to let redemption come to light the world and free it from the past.

W-pI.110.4. In this one thought is all the past undone; the present saved to quietly

extend into a timeless future. 2 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.

W-pI.110.5. The healing power of today's idea is limitless. 2 It is the birthplace of

all miracles, the great restorer of the truth to the awareness of the world. 3 Practice

today's idea with gratitude. 4 This is the truth that comes to set you free. 5 This is the

truth that God has promised you. 6 This is the Word in which all sorrow ends.

W-pI.110.6. For your five-minute practice periods, begin with this quotation from the

text:

2 I am as God created me. 3 His Son can suffer nothing.

4 And I am His Son.

W-pI.110.7. Then, with this statement firmly in your mind, try to discover in your mind

the Self Who is the holy Son of God Himself.

W-pI.110.8. Seek Him within you Who is Christ in you, the Son of God and brother to the

world; the Savior Who has been forever saved, with power to save whoever touches Him,

however lightly, asking for the Word that tells him he is brother unto Him.

W-pI.110.9. You are as God created you. 2 Today honor your Self. 3 Let graven images

you made to be the Son of God instead of what he is be worshipped not today. 4 Deep in

your mind the holy Christ in you is waiting your acknowledgment as you. 5 And you are lost

and do not know yourself while He is unacknowledged and unknown.

W-pI.110.10. Seek Him today, and find Him. 2 He will be your Savior from all idols you

have made. 3 For when you find Him, you will understand how worthless are your idols, and

how false the images which you believed were you. 4 Today we make a great advance to truth

by letting idols go, and opening our hands and hearts and minds to God today.

W-pI.110.11. We will remember Him throughout the day with thankful hearts and loving

thoughts for all who meet with us today. 2 For it is thus that we remember Him. 3 And we will

say, that we may be reminded of His Son, our holy Self, the Christ in each of us:

4 I am as God created me.

5 Let us declare this truth as often as we can. 6 This is the Word of God that sets you

free. 7 This is the key that opens up the gate of Heaven, and that lets you enter in

the peace of God and His eternity.

REVIEW III

Introduction

W-pI.rIII.in.1. Our next review begins today. 2 We will review two recent lessons every

day for ten successive days of practicing. 3 We will observe a special format for these

practice periods, that you are urged to follow just as closely as you can.

W-pI.rIII.in.2. We understand, of course, that it may be impossible for you to

undertake what is suggested here as optimal each day and every hour of the day. 2 Learning will

not be hampered when you miss a practice period because it is impossible at the appointed

time. 3 Nor is it necessary that you make excessive efforts to be sure that you catch up in

terms of numbers. 4 Rituals are not our aim, and would defeat our goal.

W-pI.rIII.in.3. But learning will be hampered when you skip a practice period because

you are unwilling to devote the time to it that you are asked to give. 2 Do not deceive

yourself in this. 3 Unwillingness can be most carefully concealed behind a cloak of situations

you cannot control. 4 Learn to distinguish situations that are poorly suited to your

practicing from those that you establish to uphold a camouflage for your unwillingness.

W-pI.rIII.in.4. Those practice periods that you have lost because you did not want to

do them, for whatever reason, should be done as soon as you have changed your mind about

your goal. 2 You are unwilling to cooperate in practicing salvation only if it interferes

with goals you hold more dear. 3 When you withdraw the value given them, allow your

practice periods to be replacements for your litanies to them. 4 They gave you nothing. 5 But

your practicing can offer everything to you. 6 And so accept their offering and be at peace.

W-pI.rIII.in.5. The format you should use for these reviews is this: Devote five

minutes twice a day, or longer if you would prefer it, to considering the thoughts that are

assigned. 2 Read over the ideas and comments that are written down for each day's exercise. 3

And then begin to think about them, while letting your mind relate them to your needs,

your seeming problems and all your concerns.

W-pI.rIII.in.6. Place the ideas within your mind, and let it use them as it chooses. 2

Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who

gave the thoughts to you. 3 What can you trust but what is in your mind? 4 Have faith, in

these reviews, the means the Holy Spirit uses will not fail. 5 The wisdom of your mind will

come to your assistance. 6 Give direction at the outset; then lean back in quiet faith, and

let the mind employ the thoughts you gave as they were given you for it to use.

W-pI.rIII.in.7. You have been given them in perfect trust; in perfect confidence that

you would use them well; in perfect faith that you would see their messages and use them

for yourself. 2 Offer them to your mind in that same trust and confidence and faith. 3 It

will not fail. 4 It is the Holy Spirit's chosen means for your salvation. 5 Since it has

His trust, His means must surely merit yours as well.

W-pI.rIII.in.8. We emphasize the benefits to you if you devote the first five minutes

of the day to your reviews, and also give the last five minutes of your waking day to

them. 2 If this cannot be done, at least try to divide them so you undertake one in the

morning, and the other in the hour just before you go to sleep.

W-pI.rIII.in.9. The exercises to be done throughout the day are equally important, and

perhaps of even greater value. 2 You have been inclined to practice only at appointed times,

and then go on your way to other things, without applying what you learned to them. 3 As a

result, you have gained little reinforcement, and have not given your learning a fair

chance to prove how great are its potential gifts to you. 4 Here is another chance to use it

well.

W-pI.rIII.in.10. In these reviews, we stress the need to let your learning not lie idly

by between your longer practice periods. 2 Attempt to give your daily two ideas a brief

but serious review each hour. 3 Use one on the hour, and the other one a half an hour

later. 4 You need not give more than just a moment to each one. 5 Repeat it, and allow your

mind to rest a little time in silence and in peace. 6 Then turn to other things, but try to

keep the thought with you, and let it serve to help you keep your peace throughout the

day as well.

W-pI.rIII.in.11. If you are shaken, think of it again. 2 These practice periods are

planned to help you form the habit of applying what you learn each day to everything you do. 3

Do not repeat the thought and lay it down. 4 Its usefulness is limitless to you. 5 And

it is meant to serve you in all ways, all times and places, and whenever you need help of

any kind. 6 Try, then, to take it with you in the business of the day and make it holy,

worthy of God's Son, acceptable to God and to your Self.

W-pI.rIII.in.12. Each day's review assignments will conclude with a restatement of the

thought to use each hour, and the one to be applied on each half hour as well. 2 Forget them

not. 3 This second chance with each of these ideas will bring such large advances that we

come from these reviews with learning gains so great we will continue on more solid ground,

with firmer footsteps and with stronger faith.

W-pI.rIII.in.13. Do not forget how little you have learned.

2 Do not forget how much you can learn now.

3 Do not forget your Father's need of you,

As you review these thoughts He gave to you.

LESSON 111.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.111.1. (91) Miracles are seen in light.

2 I cannot see in darkness. 3 Let the light of holiness and truth light up my mind, and

let me see the innocence within.

W-pI.111.2. (92) Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

2 I see through strength, the gift of God to me. 3 My weakness is the dark His gift

dispels, by giving me His strength to take its place.

W-pI.111.3. On the hour:

2 Miracles are seen in light.

3 On the half hour:

4 Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

LESSON 112.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.112.1. (93) Light and joy and peace abide in me.

2 I am the home of light and joy and peace. 3 I welcome them into the home I share with

God, because I am a part of Him.

W-pI.112.2. (94) I am as God created me.

2 I will remain forever as I was, created by the Changeless like Himself. 3 And I am

one with Him, and He with me.

W-pI.112.3. On the hour:

2 Light and joy and peace abide in me.

3 On the half hour:

4 I am as God created me.

LESSON 113.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.113.1. (95) I am one Self, united with my Creator.

2 Serenity and perfect peace are mine, because I am one Self, completely whole, at one

with all creation and with God.

W-pI.113.2. (96) Salvation comes from my one Self.

2 From my one Self, Whose knowledge still remains within my mind, I see God's perfect

plan for my salvation perfectly fulfilled.

W-pI.113.3. On the hour:

2 I am one Self, united with my Creator.

3 On the half hour:

4 Salvation comes from my one Self.

LESSON 114.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.114.1. (97) I am spirit.

2 I am the Son of God. 3 No body can contain my spirit, nor impose on me a limitation

God created not.

W-pI.114.2. (98) I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

2 What can my function be but to accept the Word of God, Who has created me for what I

am and will forever be?

W-pI.114.3. On the hour:

2 I am spirit.

3 On the half hour:

4 I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

LESSON 115.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.115.1. (99) Salvation is my only function here.

2 My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made. 3 For thus

am I released from them with all the world.

W-pI.115.2. (100) My part is essential to God's plan for salvation.

2 I am essential to the plan of God for the salvation of the world. 3 For He gave me

His plan that I might save the world.

W-pI.115.3. On the hour:

2 Salvation is my only function here.

3 On the half hour:

4 My part is essential to God's plan for salvation.

LESSON 116.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.116.1. (101) God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

2 God's Will is perfect happiness for me. 3 And I can suffer but from the belief there

is another will apart from His.

W-pI.116.2. (102) I share God's Will for happiness for me.

2 I share my Father's Will for me, His Son. 3 What He has given me is all I want. 4

What He has given me is all there is.

W-pI.116.3. On the hour:

2 God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

3 On the half hour:

4 I share God's Will for happiness for me.

LESSON 117.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.117.1. (103) God, being Love, is also happiness.

2 Let me remember love is happiness, and nothing else brings joy. 3 And so I choose to

entertain no substitutes for love.

W-pI.117.2. (104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

2 Love is my heritage, and with it joy. 3 These are the gifts my Father gave to me. 4 I

would accept all that is mine in truth.

W-pI.117.3. On the hour:

2 God, being Love, is also happiness.

3 On the half hour:

4 I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

LESSON 118.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.118.1. (105) God's peace and joy are mine.

2 Today I will accept God's peace and joy, in glad exchange for all the substitutes

that I have made for happiness and peace.

W-pI.118.2. (106) Let me be still and listen to the truth.

2 Let my own feeble voice be still, and let me hear the mighty Voice for Truth Itself

assure me that I am God's perfect Son.

W-pI.118.3. On the hour:

2 God's peace and joy are mine.

3 On the half hour:

4 Let me be still and listen to the truth.

LESSON 119.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.119.1. (107) Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

2 I am mistaken when I think I can be hurt in any way. 3 I am God's Son, whose Self

rests safely in the Mind of God.

W-pI.119.2. (108) To give and to receive are one in truth.

2 I will forgive all things today, that I may learn how to accept the truth in me, and

come to recognize my sinlessness.

W-pI.119.3. On the hour:

2 Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

3 On the half hour:

4 To give and to receive are one in truth.

LESSON 120.

For morning and evening review:

W-pI.120.1. (109) I rest in God.

2 I rest in God today, and let Him work in me and through me, while I rest in Him in

quiet and in perfect certainty.

W-pI.120.W-pI.2. (110) I am as God created me.

2 I am God's Son. 3 Today I lay aside all sick illusions of myself, and let my Father

tell me Who I really am.

W-pI.120.3. On the hour:

2 I rest in God.

3 On the half hour:

4 I am as God created me.

LESSON 121.

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

W-pI.121.1. Here is the answer to your search for peace. 2 Here is the key to meaning

in a world that seems to make no sense. 3 Here is the way to safety in apparent dangers

that appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever

finding quietness and peace. 4 Here are all questions answered; here the end of all

uncertainty ensured at last.

W-pI.121.2. The unforgiving mind is full of fear, and offers love no room to be itself;

no place where it can spread its wings in peace and soar above the turmoil of the world.

2 The unforgiving mind is sad, without the hope of respite and release from pain. 3 It

suffers and abides in misery, peering about in darkness, seeing not, yet certain of the

danger lurking there.

W-pI.121.3. The unforgiving mind is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all it

sees; afraid and angry, weak and blustering, afraid to go ahead, afraid to stay, afraid to

waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every sound, yet more afraid of stillness; terrified of

darkness, yet more terrified at the approach of light. 2 What can the unforgiving mind perceive

but its damnation? 3 What can it behold except the proof that all its sins are real?

W-pI.121.4. The unforgiving mind sees no mistakes, but only sins. 2 It looks upon the

world with sightless eyes, and shrieks as it beholds its own projections rising to attack

its miserable parody of life. 3 It wants to live, yet wishes it were dead. 4 It wants

forgiveness, yet it sees no hope. 5 It wants escape, yet can conceive of none because it sees the

sinful everywhere.

W-pI.121.5. The unforgiving mind is in despair, without the prospect of a future which

can offer anything but more despair. 2 Yet it regards its judgment of the world as

irreversible, and does not see it has condemned itself to this despair. 3 It thinks it cannot

change, for what it sees bears witness that its judgment is correct. 4 It does not ask,

because it thinks it knows. 5 It does not question, certain it is right.

W-pI.121.6. Forgiveness is acquired. 2 It is not inherent in the mind, which cannot sin.

3 As sin is an idea you taught yourself, forgiveness must be learned by you as well,

but from a Teacher other than yourself, Who represents the other Self in you. 4 Through

Him you learn how to forgive the self you think you made, and let it disappear. 5 Thus you

return your mind as one to Him Who is your Self, and Who can never sin.

W-pI.121.7. Each unforgiving mind presents you with an opportunity to teach your own

how to forgive itself. 2 Each one awaits release from hell through you, and turns to you

imploringly for Heaven here and now. 3 It has no hope, but you become its hope. 4 And as its hope,

do you become your own. 5 The unforgiving mind must learn through your forgiveness that

it has been saved from hell. 6 And as you teach salvation, you will learn. 7 Yet all

your teaching and your learning will be not of you, but of the Teacher Who was given you to

show the way to you.

W-pI.121.8. Today we practice learning to forgive. 2 If you are willing, you can learn

today to take the key to happiness, and use it on your own behalf. 3 We will devote ten

minutes in the morning, and at night another ten, to learning how to give forgiveness and

receive forgiveness, too.

W-pI.121.9. The unforgiving mind does not believe that giving and receiving are the

same. 2 Yet we will try to learn today that they are one through practicing forgiveness

toward one whom you think of as an enemy, and one whom you consider as a friend. 3 And as you

learn to see them both as one, we will extend the lesson to yourself, and see that

their escape included yours.

W-pI.121.10. Begin the longer practice periods by thinking of someone you do not like,

who seems to irritate you, or to cause regret in you if you should meet him; one you

actively despise, or merely try to overlook. 2 It does not matter what the form your anger

takes. 3 You probably have chosen him already. 4 He will do.

W-pI.121.11. Now close your eyes and see him in your mind, and look at him a while. 2

Try to perceive some light in him somewhere; a little gleam which you had never noticed. 3

Try to find some little spark of brightness shining through the ugly picture that you

hold of him. 4 Look at this picture till you see a light somewhere within it, and then try

to let this light extend until it covers him, and makes the picture beautiful and good.

W-pI.121.12. Look at this changed perception for a while, and turn your mind to one you

call a friend. 2 Try to transfer the light you learned to see around your former "enemy

" to him. 3 Perceive him now as more than friend to you, for in that light his holiness

shows you your savior, saved and saving, healed and whole.

W-pI.121.13. Then let him offer you the light you see in him, and let your "enemy" and

friend unite in blessing you with what you gave. 2 Now are you one with them, and they with

you. 3 Now have you been forgiven by yourself. 4 Do not forget, throughout the day, the

role forgiveness plays in bringing happiness to every unforgiving mind, with yours among

them. 5 Every hour tell yourself:

6 Forgiveness is the key to happiness. 7 I will awaken from the dream that I am mortal,

fallible and full of sin, and know I am the perfect Son of God.

LESSON 122.

Forgiveness offers everything I want.

W-pI.122.1. What could you want forgiveness cannot give? 2 Do you want peace? 3

Forgiveness offers it. 4 Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense

of worth and beauty that transcends the world? 5 Do you want care and safety, and the

warmth of sure protection always? 6 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?

W-pI.122.2. All this forgiveness offers you, and more. 2 It sparkles on your eyes as

you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. 3 It soothes your forehead while

you sleep, and rests upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and

attack. 4 And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. 5 All

this forgiveness offers you, and more.

W-pI.122.3. Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up that hides the face of Christ from

those who look with unforgiving eyes upon the world. 2 It lets you recognize the Son of God,

and clears your memory of all dead thoughts so that remembrance of your Father can

arise across the threshold of your mind. 3 What would you want forgiveness cannot give? 4

What gifts but these are worthy to be sought? 5 What fancied value, trivial effect or

transient promise, never to be kept, can hold more hope than what forgiveness brings?

W-pI.122.4. Why would you seek an answer other than the answer that will answer

everything? 2 Here is the perfect answer, given to imperfect questions, meaningless requests,

halfhearted willingness to hear, and less than halfway diligence and partial trust. 3 Here is the

answer! 4 Seek for it no more. 5 You will not find another one instead.

W-pI.122.5. God's plan for your salvation cannot change, nor can it fail. 2 Be thankful

it remains exactly as He planned it. 3 Changelessly it stands before you like an open

door, with warmth and welcome calling from beyond the doorway, bidding you to enter in and

make yourself at home, where you belong.

W-pI.122.6. Here is the answer! 2 Would you stand outside while all of Heaven waits for

you within? 3 Forgive and be forgiven. 4 As you give you will receive. 5 There is no

plan but this for the salvation of the Son of God. 6 Let us today rejoice that this is so,

for here we have an answer, clear and plain, beyond deceit in its simplicity. 7 All the

complexities the world has spun of fragile cobwebs disappear before the power and the majesty of

this extremely simple statement of the truth.

W-pI.122.7. Here is the answer! 2 Do not turn away in aimless wandering again. 3 Accept

salvation now. 4 It is the gift of God, and not the world. 5 The world can give no

gifts of any value to a mind that has received what God has given as its own. 6 God wills

salvation be received today, and that the intricacies of your dreams no longer hide their

nothingness from you.

W-pI.122.8. Open your eyes today and look upon a happy world of safety and of peace. 2

Forgiveness is the means by which it comes to take the place of hell. 3 In quietness it rises up

to greet your open eyes, and fill your heart with deep tranquility as ancient truths,

forever newly born, arise in your awareness. 4 What you will remember then can never be

described. 5 Yet your forgiveness offers it to you.

W-pI.122.9. Remembering the gifts forgiveness gives, we undertake our practicing today

with hope and faith that this will be the day salvation will be ours. 2 Earnestly and

gladly will we seek for it today, aware we hold the key within our hands, accepting Heaven's

answer to the hell we made, but where we would remain no more.

W-pI.122.10. Morning and evening do we gladly give a quarter of an hour to the search

in which the end of hell is guaranteed. 2 Begin in hopefulness, for we have reached the

turning point at which the road becomes far easier. 3 And now the way is short that yet we

travel. 4 We are close indeed to the appointed ending of the dream.

W-pI.122.11. Sink into happiness as you begin these practice periods, for they hold out

the sure rewards of questions answered and what your acceptance of the answer brings. 2

Today it will be given you to feel the peace forgiveness offers, and the joy the

lifting of the veil holds out to you.

W-pI.122.12. Before the light you will receive today the world will fade until it

disappears, and you will see another world arise you have no words to picture. 2 Now we walk

directly into light, and we receive the gifts that have been held in store for us since time

began, kept waiting for today.

W-pI.122.13. Forgiveness offers everything you want. 2 Today all things you want are

given you. 3 Let not your gifts recede throughout the day, as you return again to meet a

world of shifting change and bleak appearances. 4 Retain your gifts in clear awareness as

you see the changeless in the heart of change; the light of truth behind appearances.

W-pI.122.14. Be tempted not to let your gifts slip by and drift into forgetfulness, but

hold them firmly in your mind by your attempts to think of them at least a minute as

each quarter of an hour passes by. 2 Remind yourself how precious are these gifts with this

reminder, which has power to hold your gifts in your awareness through the day:

3 Forgiveness offers everything I want.

4 Today I have accepted this as true.

5 Today I have received the gifts of God.

LESSON 123.

I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

W-pI.123.1. Today let us be thankful. 2 We have come to gentler pathways and to

smoother roads. 3 There is no thought of turning back, and no implacable resistance to the

truth. 4 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.123.2. A day devoted now to gratitude will add the benefit of some insight into

the real extent of all the gains which you have made; the gifts you have received. 2 Be

glad today, in loving thankfulness, your Father has not left you to yourself, nor let you

wander in the dark alone. 3 Be grateful He has saved you from the self you thought you made

to take the place of Him and His creation. 4 Give Him thanks today.

W-pI.123.3. Give thanks that He has not abandoned you, and that His Love forever will

remain shining on you, forever without change. 2 Give thanks as well that you are changeless,

for the Son He loves is changeless as Himself. 3 Be grateful you are saved. 4 Be glad

you have a function in salvation to fulfill. 5 Be thankful that your value far transcends

your meager gifts and petty judgments of the one whom God established as His Son.

W-pI.123.4. Today in gratitude we lift our hearts above despair, and raise our thankful

eyes, no longer looking downward to the dust. 2 We sing the song of thankfulness today,

in honor of the Self that God has willed to be our true Identity in Him. 3 Today we

smile on everyone we see, and walk with lightened footsteps as we go to do what is appointed

us to do.

W-pI.123.5. We do not go alone. 2 And we give thanks that in our solitude a Friend has

come to speak the saving Word of God to us. 3 And thanks to you for listening to Him. 4 His

Word is soundless if it be not heard. 5 In thanking Him the thanks are yours as well. 6

An unheard message will not save the world, however mighty be the Voice that speaks,

however loving may the message be.

W-pI.123.6. Thanks be to you who heard, for you become the messenger who brings His

Voice with you, and lets It echo round and round the world. 2 Receive the thanks of God

today, as you give thanks to Him. 3 For He would offer you the thanks you give, since He

receives your gifts in loving gratitude, and gives them back a thousand and a hundred thousand

more than they were given. 4 He will bless your gifts by sharing them with you. 5 And so

they grow in power and in strength, until they fill the world with gladness and with

gratitude.

W-pI.123.7. Receive His thanks and offer yours to Him for fifteen minutes twice today.

2 And you will realize to Whom you offer thanks, and Whom He thanks as you are thanking

Him. 3 This holy half an hour given Him will be returned to you in terms of years for

every second; power to save the world eons more quickly for your thanks to Him.

W-pI.123.8. Receive His thanks, and you will understand how lovingly He holds you in

His Mind, how deep and limitless His care for you, how perfect is His gratitude to you. 2

Remember hourly to think of Him, and give Him thanks for everything He gave His Son, that he

might rise above the world, remembering his Father and his Self.

LESSON 124.

Let me remember I am one with God.

W-pI.124.1. Today we will again give thanks for our Identity in God. 2 Our home is safe,

protection guaranteed in all we do, power and strength available to us in all our

undertakings. 3 We can fail in nothing. 4 Everything we touch takes on a shining light that blesses

and that heals. 5 At one with God and with the universe we go our way rejoicing, with

the thought that God Himself goes everywhere with us.

W-pI.124.2. How holy are our minds! 2 And everything we see reflects the holiness

within the mind at one with God and with itself. 3 How easily do errors disappear, and death

give place to everlasting life. 4 Our shining footprints point the way to truth, for God is

our Companion as we walk the world a little while. 5 And those who come to follow us

will recognize the way because the light we carry stays behind, yet still remains with us

as we walk on.

W-pI.124.3. What we receive is our eternal gift to those who follow after, and to those

who went before or stayed with us a while. 2 And God, Who loves us with the equal love

in which we were created, smiles on us and offers us the happiness we gave.

W-pI.124.4. Today we will not doubt His Love for us, nor question His protection and

His care. 2 No meaningless anxieties can come between our faith and our awareness of His

Presence. 3 We are one with Him today in recognition and remembrance. 4 We feel Him in our

hearts. 5 Our minds contain His Thoughts; our eyes behold His loveliness in all we look upon.

6 Today we see only the loving and the lovable.

W-pI.124.5. We see it in appearances of pain, and pain gives way to peace. 2 We see it

in the frantic, in the sad and the distressed, the lonely and afraid, who are restored to

the tranquility and peace of mind in which they were created. 3 And we see it in the

dying and the dead as well, restoring them to life. 4 All this we see because we saw it

first within ourselves.

W-pI.124.6. No miracle can ever be denied to those who know that they are one with God.

2 No thought of theirs but has the power to heal all forms of suffering in anyone, in

times gone by and times as yet to come, as easily as in the ones who walk beside them now. 3

Their thoughts are timeless, and apart from distance as apart from time.

W-pI.124.7. We join in this awareness as we say that we are one with God. 2 For in

these words we say as well that we are saved and healed; that we can save and heal

accordingly. 3 We have accepted, and we now would give. 4 For we would keep the gifts our Father

gave. 5 Today we would experience ourselves at one with Him, so that the world may share

our recognition of reality. 6 In our experience the world is freed. 7 As we deny our

separation from our Father, it is healed along with us.

W-pI.124.8. Peace be to you today. 2 Secure your peace by practicing awareness you are

one with your Creator, as He is with you. 3 Sometime today, whenever it seems best, devote

a half an hour to the thought that you are one with God. 4 This is our first attempt at

an extended period for which we give no rules nor special words to guide your

meditation. 5 We will trust God's Voice to speak as He sees fit today, certain He will not fail.

6 Abide with Him this half an hour. 7 He will do the rest.

W-pI.124.9. Your benefit will not be less if you believe that nothing happens. 2 You

may not be ready to accept the gain today. 3 Yet sometime, somewhere, it will come to you,

nor will you fail to recognize it when it dawns with certainty upon your mind. 4 This

half an hour will be framed in gold, with every minute like a diamond set around the mirror

that this exercise will offer you. 5 And you will see Christ's face upon it, in

reflection of your own.

W-pI.124.10. Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will see your own transfiguration in

the glass this holy half an hour will hold out to you, to look upon yourself. 2 When you

are ready you will find it there, within your mind and waiting to be found. 3 You will

remember then the thought to which you gave this half an hour, thankfully aware no time was

ever better spent.

W-pI.124.11. Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will look into this glass, and

understand the sinless light you see belongs to you; the loveliness you look on is your own. 2

Count this half hour as your gift to God, in certainty that His return will be a sense of

love you cannot understand, a joy too deep for you to comprehend, a sight too holy for the

body's eyes to see. 3 And yet you can be sure someday, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you

will understand and comprehend and see.

W-pI.124.12. Add further jewels to the golden frame that holds the mirror offered you

today, by hourly repeating to yourself:

2 Let me remember I am one with God, at one with all my brothers and my Self, in

everlasting holiness and peace.

LESSON 125.

In quiet I receive God's Word today.

W-pI.125.1. Let this day be a day of stillness and of quiet listening. 2 Your Father

wills you hear His Word today. 3 He calls to you from deep within your mind where He abides.

4 Hear Him today. 5 No peace is possible until His Word is heard around the world;

until your mind, in quiet listening, accepts the message that the world must hear to usher

in the quiet time of peace.

W-pI.125.2. This world will change through you. 2 No other means can save it, for God's

plan is simply this: The Son of God is free to save himself, given the Word of God to

be his Guide, forever in his mind and at his side to lead him surely to his Father's

house by his own will, forever free as God's. 3 He is not led by force, but only love. 4 He

is not judged, but only sanctified.

W-pI.125.3. In stillness we will hear God's Voice today without intrusion of our petty

thoughts, without our personal desires, and without all judgment of His holy Word. 2 We will

not judge ourselves today, for what we are can not be judged. 3 We stand apart from all

the judgments which the world has laid upon the Son of God. 4 It knows him not. 5 Today we

will not listen to the world, but wait in silence for the Word of God.

W-pI.125.4. Hear, holy Son of God, your Father speak. 2 His Voice would give to you His

holy Word, to spread across the world the tidings of salvation and the holy time of

peace. 3 We gather at the throne of God today, the quiet place within the mind where He

abides forever, in the holiness that He created and will never leave.

W-pI.125.5. He has not waited until you return your mind to Him to give His Word to you.

2 He has not hid Himself from you, while you have wandered off a little while from Him.

3 He does not cherish the illusions which you hold about yourself. 4 He knows His Son,

and wills that he remain as part of Him regardless of his dreams; regardless of his

madness that his will is not his own.

W-pI.125.6. Today He speaks to you. 2 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. 3 Await His Word in quiet. 4 There is peace within you to be called upon today, to

help make ready your most holy mind to hear the Voice for its Creator speak.

W-pI.125.7. Three times today, at times most suitable for silence, give ten minutes set

apart from listening to the world, and choose instead a gentle listening to the Word of

God. 2 He speaks from nearer than your heart to you. 3 His Voice is closer than your

hand. 4 His Love is everything you are and that He is; the same as you, and you the same as

He.

W-pI.125.8. It is your voice to which you listen as He speaks to you. 2 It is your word

He speaks. 3 It is the Word of freedom and of peace, of unity of will and purpose, with

no separation nor division in the single Mind of Father and of Son. 4 In quiet listen

to your Self today, and let Him tell you God has never left His Son, and you have never

left your Self.

W-pI.125.9. Only be quiet. 2 You will need no rule but this, to let your practicing

today lift you above the thinking of the world, and free your vision from the body's eyes. 3

Only be still and listen. 4 You will hear the Word in which the Will of God the Son

joins in his Father's Will, at one with it, with no illusions interposed between the wholly

indivisible and true. 5 As every hour passes by today, be still a moment and remind yourself you

have a special purpose for this day; in quiet to receive the Word of God.

LESSON 126.

All that I give is given to myself.

W-pI.126.1. Today's idea, completely alien to the ego and the thinking of the world, is

crucial to the thought reversal that this course will bring about. 2 If you believed

this statement, there would be no problem in complete forgiveness, certainty of goal, and

sure direction. 3 You would understand the means by which salvation comes to you, and would

not hesitate to use it now.

W-pI.126.2. Let us consider what you do believe, in place of this idea. 2 It seems to

you that other people are apart from you, and able to behave in ways which have no bearing

on your thoughts, nor yours on theirs. 3 Therefore, your attitudes have no effect on

them, and their appeals for help are not in any way related to your own. 4 You further

think that they can sin without affecting your perception of yourself, while you can judge

their sin, and yet remain apart from condemnation and at peace.

W-pI.126.3. When you "forgive" a sin, there is no gain to you directly. 2 You give

charity to one unworthy, merely to point out that you are better, on a higher plane than he

whom you forgive. 3 He has not earned your charitable tolerance, which you bestow on one

unworthy of the gift, because his sins have lowered him beneath a true equality with you. 4 He

has no claim on your forgiveness. 5 It holds out a gift to him, but hardly to yourself.

W-pI.126.4. Thus is forgiveness basically unsound; a charitable whim, benevolent yet

undeserved, a gift bestowed at times, at other times withheld. 2 Unmerited, withholding it is

just, nor is it fair that you should suffer when it is withheld. 3 The sin that you forgive

is not your own. 4 Someone apart from you committed it. 5 And if you then are gracious

unto him by giving him what he does not deserve, the gift is no more yours than was his sin.

W-pI.126.5. If this be true, forgiveness has no grounds on which to rest dependably and

sure. 2 It is an eccentricity, in which you sometimes choose to give indulgently an

undeserved reprieve. 3 Yet it remains your right to let the sinner not escape the justified

repayment for his sin. 4 Think you the Lord of Heaven would allow the world's salvation to

depend on this? 5 Would not His care for you be small indeed, if your salvation rested on a

whim?

W-pI.126.6. You do not understand forgiveness. 2 As you see it, it is but a check upon

overt attack, without requiring correction in your mind. 3 It cannot give you peace as you

perceive it. 4 It is not a means for your release from what you see in someone other than

yourself. 5 It has no power to restore your unity with him to your awareness. 6 It is not what

God intended it to be for you.

W-pI.126.7. Not having given Him the gift He asks of you, you cannot recognize His

gifts, and think He has not given them to you. 2 Yet would He ask you for a gift unless it

was for you? 3 Could He be satisfied with empty gestures, and evaluate such petty gifts as

worthy of His Son? 4 Salvation is a better gift than this. 5 And true forgiveness, as

the means by which it is attained, must heal the mind that gives, for giving is receiving.

6 What remains as unreceived has not been given, but what has been given must have been

received.

W-pI.126.8. Today we try to understand the truth that giver and receiver are the same.

2 You will need help to make this meaningful, because it is so alien to the thoughts to

which you are accustomed. 3 But the Help you need is there. 4 Give Him your faith today, and

ask Him that He share your practicing in truth today. 5 And if you only catch a tiny

glimpse of the release that lies in the idea we practice for today, this is a day of glory for

the world.

W-pI.126.9. Give fifteen minutes twice today to the attempt to understand today's idea.

2 It is the thought by which forgiveness takes its proper place in your priorities. 3

It is the thought that will release your mind from every bar to what forgiveness means,

and let you realize its worth to you.

W-pI.126.10. In silence, close your eyes upon the world that does not understand

forgiveness, and seek sanctuary in the quiet place where thoughts are changed and false beliefs

laid by. 2 Repeat today's idea, and ask for help in understanding what it really means. 3

Be willing to be taught. 4 Be glad to hear the Voice of truth and healing speak to you,

and you will understand the words He speaks, and recognize He speaks your words to you.

W-pI.126.11. As often as you can, remind yourself you have a goal today; an aim which

makes this day of special value to yourself and all your brothers. 2 Do not let your mind

forget this goal for long, but tell yourself:

3 All that I give is given to myself. 4 The Help I need to learn that this is true is

with me now. 5 And I will trust in Him.

6 Then spend a quiet moment, opening your mind to His correction and His Love. 7 And

what you hear of Him you will believe, for what He gives will be received by you.

LESSON 127.

There is no love but God's.

W-pI.127.1. Perhaps you think that different kinds of love are possible. 2 Perhaps you

think there is a kind of love for this, a kind for that; a way of loving one, another way of

loving still another. 3 Love is one. 4 It has no separate parts and no degrees; no

kinds nor levels, no divergencies and no distinctions. 5 It is like itself, unchanged

throughout. 6 It never alters with a person or a circumstance. 7 It is the Heart of God, and also

of His Son.

W-pI.127.2. Love's meaning is obscure to anyone who thinks that love can change. 2 He

does not see that changing love must be impossible. 3 And thus he thinks that he can love

at times, and hate at other times. 4 He also thinks that love can be bestowed on one, and

yet remain itself although it is withheld from others. 5 To believe these things of

love is not to understand it. 6 If it could make such distinctions, it would have to judge

between the righteous and the sinner, and perceive the Son of God in separate parts.

W-pI.127.3. Love cannot judge. 2 As it is one itself, it looks on all as one. 3 Its

meaning lies in oneness. 4 And it must elude the mind that thinks of it as partial or in part.

5 There is no love but God's, and all of love is His. 6 There is no other principle

that rules where love is not. 7 Love is a law without an opposite. 8 Its wholeness is the

power holding everything as one, the link between the Father and the Son which holds Them

Both forever as the same.

W-pI.127.4. 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. 2 Love's meaning is your own, and shared by God Himself. 3 For what you are is

what He is. 4 There is no love but His, and what He is, is everything there is. 5 There

is no limit placed upon Himself, and so are you unlimited as well.

W-pI.127.5. No law the world obeys can help you grasp love's meaning. 2 What the world

believes was made to hide love's meaning, and to keep it dark and secret. 3 There is not one

principle the world upholds but violates the truth of what love is, and what you are as well.

W-pI.127.6. Seek not within the world to find your Self. 2 Love is not found in

darkness and in death. 3 Yet it is perfectly apparent to the eyes that see and ears that hear

love's Voice. 4 Today we practice making free your mind of all the laws you think you must

obey; of all the limits under which you live, and all the changes that you think are part

of human destiny. 5 Today we take the largest single step this course requests in your

advance towards its established goal.

W-pI.127.7. If you achieve the faintest glimmering of what love means today, you have

advanced in distance without measure and in time beyond the count of years to your release. 2

Let us together, then, be glad to give some time to God today, and understand there is no

better use for time than this.

W-pI.127.8. For fifteen minutes twice today escape from every law in which you now

believe. 2 Open your mind and rest. 3 The world that seems to hold you prisoner can be escaped

by anyone who does not hold it dear. 4 Withdraw all value you have placed upon its

meager offerings and senseless gifts, and let the gift of God replace them all.

W-pI.127.9. Call to your Father, certain that His Voice will answer. 2 He Himself has

promised this. 3 And He Himself will place a spark of truth within your mind wherever you give

up a false belief, a dark illusion of your own reality and what love means. 4 He will

shine through your idle thoughts today, and help you understand the truth of love. 5 In

loving gentleness He will abide with you, as you allow His Voice to teach love's meaning to

your clean and open mind. 6 And He will bless the lesson with His Love.

W-pI.127.10. Today the legion of the future years of waiting for salvation disappears

before the timelessness of what you learn. 2 Let us give thanks today that we are spared a

future like the past. 3 Today we leave the past behind us, nevermore to be remembered. 4 And

we raise our eyes upon a different present, where a future dawns unlike the past in every

attribute.

W-pI.127.11. The world in infancy is newly born. 2 And we will watch it grow in health

and strength, to shed its blessing upon all who come to learn to cast aside the world they

thought was made in hate to be love's enemy. 3 Now are they all made free, along with

us. 4 Now are they all our brothers in God's Love.

W-pI.127.12. We will remember them throughout the day, because we cannot leave a part

of us outside our love if we would know our Self. 2 At least three times an hour think of

one who makes the journey with you, and who came to learn what you must learn. 3 And as

he comes to mind, give him this message from your Self:

4 I bless you, brother, with the Love of God, which I would share with you. 5 For I

would learn the joyous lesson that there is no love but God's and yours and mine and

everyone's.

LESSON 128.

The world I see holds nothing that I want.

W-pI.128.1. The world you see holds nothing that you need to offer you; nothing that

you can use in any way, nor anything at all that serves to give you joy. 2 Believe this

thought, and you are saved from years of misery, from countless disappointments, and from

hopes that turn to bitter ashes of despair. 3 No one but must accept this thought as true,

if he would leave the world behind and soar beyond its petty scope and little ways.

W-pI.128.2. Each thing you value here is but a chain that binds you to the world, and

it will serve no other end but this. 2 For everything must serve the purpose you have

given it, until you see a different purpose there. 3 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. 4 Be you deceived no more. 5 The world you see holds nothing that you want.

W-pI.128.3. Escape today the chains you place upon your mind when you perceive

salvation here. 2 For what you value you make part of you as you perceive yourself. 3 All things

you seek to make your value greater in your sight limit you further, hide your worth

from you, and add another bar across the door that leads to true awareness of your Self.

W-pI.128.4. Let nothing that relates to body thoughts delay your progress to salvation,

nor permit temptation to believe the world holds anything you want to hold you back. 2

Nothing is here to cherish. 3 Nothing here is worth one instant of delay and pain; one moment

of uncertainty and doubt. 4 The worthless offer nothing. 5 Certainty of worth can not be

found in worthlessness.

W-pI.128.5. Today we practice letting go all thought of values we have given to the

world. 2 We leave it free of purposes we gave its aspects and its phases and its dreams. 3

We hold it purposeless within our minds, and loosen it from all we wish it were. 4 Thus

do we lift the chains that bar the door to freedom from the world, and go beyond all

little values and diminished goals.

W-pI.128.6. Pause and be still a little 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. 2 It will be grateful to be free a while. 3 It knows where it belongs. 4 But

free its wings, and it will fly in sureness and in joy to join its holy purpose. 5 Let it

rest in its Creator, there to be restored to sanity, to freedom and to love.

W-pI.128.7. Give it ten minutes rest three times today. 2 And when your eyes are opened

afterwards, you will not value anything you see as much as when you looked at it before.

3 Your whole perspective on the world will shift by just a little, every time you let

your mind escape its chains. 4 The world is not where it belongs. 5 And you belong where it

would be, and where it goes to rest when you release it from the world. 6 Your Guide is

sure. 7 Open your mind to Him. 8 Be still and rest.

W-pI.128.8. Protect your mind throughout the day as well. 2 And when you think you see

some value in an aspect or an image of the world, refuse to lay this chain upon your mind,

but tell yourself with quiet certainty:

3 This will not tempt me to delay myself.

4 The world I see holds nothing that I want.

LESSON 129.

Beyond this world there is a world I want.

W-pI.129.1. This is the thought that follows from the one we practiced yesterday. 2 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. 3 Our emphasis is not on giving up the

world, but on exchanging it for what is far more satisfying, filled with joy, and capable of

offering you peace. 4 Think you this world can offer that to you?

W-pI.129.2. It might be worth a little time to think once more about the value of this

world. 2 Perhaps you will concede there is no loss in letting go all thought of value here.

3 The world you see is merciless indeed, unstable, cruel, unconcerned with you, quick to

avenge and pitiless with hate. 4 It gives but to rescind, and takes away all things

that you have cherished for a while. 5 No lasting love is found, for none is here. 6 This

is the world of time, where all things end.

W-pI.129.3. Is it a loss to find a world instead where losing is impossible; where love

endures forever, hate cannot exist and vengeance has no meaning? 2 Is it 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 Yet even they will be exchanged at last for what we

cannot speak of, for you go from there to where words fail entirely, into a silence where the

language is unspoken and yet surely understood.

W-pI.129.4. Communication, unambiguous and plain as day, remains unlimited for all

eternity. 2 And God Himself speaks to His Son, as His Son speaks to Him. 3 Their language has

no words, for what They say cannot be symbolized. 4 Their knowledge is direct and wholly

shared and wholly one. 5 How far away from this are you who stay bound to this world. 6 And

yet how near are you, when you exchange it for the world you want.

W-pI.129.5. Now is the last step certain; now you stand an instant's space away from

timelessness. 2 Here can you but look forward, never back to see again the world you do not want. 3

Here is the world that comes to take its place, as you unbind your mind from little

things the world sets forth to keep you prisoner. 4 Value them not, and they will disappear.

5 Esteem them, and they will seem real to you.

W-pI.129.6. Such is the choice. 2 What loss can be for you in choosing not to value

nothingness? 3 This world holds nothing that you really want, but what you choose instead you want

indeed! 4 Let it be given you today. 5 It waits but for your choosing it, to take the

place of all the things you seek but do not want.

W-pI.129.7. Practice your willingness to make this change ten minutes in the morning

and at night, and once more in between. 2 Begin with this:

3 Beyond this world there is a world I want. 4 I choose to see that world instead of

this, for here is nothing that I really want.

5 Then close your eyes upon the world you see, and in the silent darkness watch the

lights that are not of this world light one by one, until where one begins another ends loses

all meaning as they blend in one.

W-pI.129.8. Today the lights of Heaven bend to you, to shine upon your eyelids as you

rest beyond the world of darkness. 2 Here is light your eyes can not behold. 3 And yet your

mind can see it plainly, and can understand. 4 A day of grace is given you today, and

we give thanks. 5 This day we realize that what you feared to lose was only loss.

W-pI.129.9. Now do we understand there is no loss. 2 For we have seen its opposite at

last, and we are grateful that the choice is made. 3 Remember your decision hourly, and

take a moment to confirm your choice by laying by whatever thoughts you have, and dwelling

briefly only upon this:

4 The world I see holds nothing that I want.

5 Beyond this world there is a world I want.

LESSON 130.

It is impossible to see two worlds.

W-pI.130.1. Perception is consistent. 2 What you see reflects your thinking. 3 And your

thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see. 4 Your values are

determiners of this, for what you value you must want to see, believing what you see is really

there. 5 No one can see a world his mind has not accorded value. 6 And no one can fail to

look upon what he believes he wants.

W-pI.130.2. Yet who can really hate and love at once? 2 Who can desire what he does not

want to have reality? 3 And who can choose to see a world of which he is afraid? 4 Fear

must make blind, for this its weapon is: That which you fear to see you cannot see. 5

Love and perception thus go hand in hand, but fear obscures in darkness what is there.

W-pI.130.3. What, then, can fear project upon the world? 2 What can be seen in darkness

that is real? 3 Truth is eclipsed by fear, and what remains is but imagined. 4 Yet what

can be real in blind imaginings of panic born? 5 What would you want that this is shown

to you? 6 What would you wish to keep in such a dream?

W-pI.130.4. Fear has made everything you think you see. 2 All separation, all

distinctions, and the multitude of differences you believe make up the world. 3 They are not there.

4 Love's enemy has made them up. 5 Yet love can have no enemy, and so they have no

cause, no being and no consequence. 6 They can be valued, but remain unreal. 7 They can be

sought, but they can not be found. 8 Today we will not seek for them, nor waste this day in

seeking what can not be found.

W-pI.130.5. It is impossible to see two worlds which have no overlap of any kind. 2

Seek for the one; the other disappears. 3 But one remains. 4 They are the range of choice

beyond which your decision cannot go. 5 The real and the unreal are all there are to choose

between, and nothing more than these.

W-pI.130.6. Today we will attempt no compromise where none is possible. 2 The world you

see is proof you have already made a choice as all-embracing as its opposite. 3 What we

would learn today is more than just the lesson that you cannot see two worlds. 4 It

also teaches that the one you see is quite consistent from the point of view from which you

see it. 5 It is all a piece because it stems from one emotion, and reflects its source

in everything you see.

W-pI.130.7. Six times today, in thanks and gratitude, we gladly give five minutes to

the thought that ends all compromise and doubt, and go beyond them all as one. 2 We will

not make a thousand meaningless distinctions, nor attempt to bring with us a little part

of unreality, as we devote our minds to finding only what is real.

W-pI.130.8. Begin your searching for the other world by asking for a strength beyond

your own, and recognizing what it is you seek. 2 You do not want illusions. 3 And you come

to these five minutes emptying your hands of all the petty treasures of this world. 4 You

wait for God to help you, as you say:

5 It is impossible to see two worlds. 6 Let me accept the strength God offers me and

see no value in this world, that I may find my freedom and deliverance.

W-pI.130.9. God will be there. 2 For you have called upon the great unfailing power

which will take this giant step with you in gratitude. 3 Nor will you fail to see His thanks

expressed in tangible perception and in truth. 4 You will not doubt what you will look

upon, for though it is perception, it is not the kind of seeing that your eyes alone have

ever seen before. 5 And you will know God's strength upheld you as you made this choice.

W-pI.130.10. Dismiss temptation easily today whenever it arises, merely by remembering

the limits of your choice. 2 The unreal or the real, the false or true is what you see and

only what you see. 3 Perception is consistent with your choice, and hell or Heaven

comes to you as one.

W-pI.130.11. Accept a little part of hell as real, and you have damned your eyes and

cursed your sight, and what you will behold is hell indeed. 2 Yet the release of Heaven still

remains within your range of choice, to take the place of everything that hell would

show to you. 3 All you need say to any part of hell, whatever form it takes, is simply this:

4 It is impossible to see two worlds. 5 I seek my freedom and deliverance, and this is

not a part of what I want.

LESSON 131.

No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

W-pI.131.1. Failure is all about you while you seek for goals that cannot be achieved.

2 You look for permanence in the impermanent, for love where there is none, for safety

in the midst of danger; immortality within the darkness of the dream of death. 3 Who

could succeed where contradiction is the setting of his searching, and the place to which he

comes to find stability?

W-pI.131.2. Goals that are meaningless are not attained. 2 There is no way to reach

them, for the means by which you strive for them are meaningless as they are. 3 Who can use

such senseless means, and hope through them to gain in anything? 4 Where can they lead?

5 And what could they achieve that offers any hope of being real? 6 Pursuit of the

imagined leads to death because it is the search for nothingness, and while you seek for life

you ask for death. 7 You look for safety and security, while in your heart you pray for

danger and protection for the little dream you made.

W-pI.131.3. Yet searching is inevitable here. 2 For this you came, and you will surely

do the thing you came for. 3 But the world can not dictate the goal for which you search,

unless you give it power to do so. 4 Otherwise, you still are free to choose a goal

that lies beyond the world and every worldly thought, and one that comes to you from an

idea relinquished yet remembered, old yet new; an echo of a heritage forgot, yet holding

everything you really want.

W-pI.131.4. Be glad that search you must. 2 Be glad as well to learn you search for

Heaven, and must find the goal you really want. 3 No one can fail to want this goal and reach

it in the end. 4 God's Son can not seek vainly, though he try to force delay, deceive

himself and think that it is hell he seeks. 5 When he is wrong, he finds correction. 6 When he

wanders off, he is led back to his appointed task.

W-pI.131.5. No one remains in hell, for no one can abandon his Creator, nor affect His

perfect, timeless and unchanging Love. 2 You will find Heaven. 3 Everything you seek but this

will fall away. 4 Yet not because it has been taken from you. 5 It will go because you do

not want it. 6 You will reach the goal you really want as certainly as God created you in

sinlessness.

W-pI.131.6. Why wait for Heaven? 2 It is here today. 3 Time is the great illusion it is

past or in the future. 4 Yet this cannot be, if it is where God wills His Son to be. 5

How could the Will of God be in the past, or yet to happen? 6 What He wills is now,

without a past and wholly futureless. 7 It is as far removed from time as is a tiny candle

from a distant star, or what you chose from what you really want.

W-pI.131.7. Heaven remains your one alternative to this strange world you made and all

its ways; its shifting patterns and uncertain goals, its painful pleasures and its tragic

joys. 2 God made no contradictions. 3 What denies its own existence and attacks itself is

not of Him. 4 He did not make two minds, with Heaven as the glad effect of one, and earth

the other's sorry outcome which is Heaven's opposite in every way.

W-pI.131.8. God does not suffer conflict. 2 Nor is His creation split in two. 3 How

could it be His Son could be in hell, when God Himself established him in Heaven? 4 Could he

lose what the Eternal Will has given him to be his home forever? 5 Let us not try

longer to impose an alien will upon God's single purpose. 6 He is here because He wills to be,

and what He wills is present now, beyond the reach of time.

W-pI.131.9. Today we will not choose a paradox in place of truth. 2 How could the Son

of God make time to take away the Will of God? 3 He thus denies himself, and contradicts

what has no opposite. 4 He thinks he made a hell opposing Heaven, and believes that he

abides in what does not exist, while Heaven is the place he cannot find.

W-pI.131.10. Leave foolish thoughts like these behind today, and turn your mind to true

ideas instead. 2 No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth, and it is truth we seek

to reach today. 3 We will devote ten minutes to this goal three times today, and we will

ask to see the rising of the real world to replace the foolish images that we hold dear,

with true ideas arising in the place of thoughts that have no meaning, no effect, and

neither source nor substance in the truth.

W-pI.131.11. This we acknowledge as we start upon our practice periods. 2 Begin with

this:

3 I ask to see a different world, and think a different kind of thought from those I

made. 4 The world I seek I did not make alone, the thoughts I want to think are not my own.

5 For several minutes watch your mind and see, although your eyes are closed, the

senseless world you think is real. 6 Review the thoughts as well which are compatible with such

a world, and which you think are true. 7 Then let them go, and sink below them to the

holy place where they can enter not. 8 There is a door beneath them in your mind, which you

could not completely lock to hide what lies beyond.

W-pI.131.12. Seek for that door and find it. 2 But before you try to open it, remind

yourself no one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. 3 And it is this request you make today.

4 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.

W-pI.131.13. Put out your hand, and see how easily the door swings open with your one

intent to go beyond it. 2 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. 3 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.131.14. You cannot fail today. 2 There walks with you the Spirit Heaven sent you,

that you might approach this door some day, and through His aid slip effortlessly past it,

to the light. 3 Today that day has come. 4 Today God keeps His ancient promise to His

holy Son, as does His Son remember his to Him. 5 This is a day of gladness, for we come to

the appointed time and place where you will find the goal of all your searching here, and

all the seeking of the world, which end together as you pass beyond the door.

W-pI.131.15. Remember often that today should be a time of special gladness, and

refrain from dismal thoughts and meaningless laments. 2 Salvation's time has come. 3 Today is

set by Heaven itself to be a time of grace for you and for the world. 4 If you forget this

happy fact, remind yourself with this:

5 Today I seek and find all that I want.

6 My single purpose offers it to me.

7 No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

LESSON 132.

I loose the world from all I thought it was.

W-pI.132.1. What keeps the world in chains but your beliefs? 2 And what can save the

world except your Self? 3 Belief is powerful indeed. 4 The thoughts you hold are mighty, and

illusions are as strong in their effects as is the truth. 5 A madman thinks the world

he sees is real, and does not doubt it. 6 Nor can he be swayed by questioning his

thoughts' effects. 7 It is but when their source is raised to question that the hope of freedom

comes to him at last.

W-pI.132.2. Yet is salvation easily achieved, for anyone is free to change his mind,

and all his thoughts change with it. 2 Now the source of thought has shifted, for to

change your mind means you have changed the source of all ideas you think or ever thought or

yet will think. 3 You free the past from what you thought before. 4 You free the future

from all ancient thoughts of seeking what you do not want to find.

W-pI.132.3. The present now remains the only time. 2 Here in the present is the world

set free. 3 For as you let the past be lifted and release the future from your ancient

fears, you find escape and give it to the world. 4 You have enslaved the world with all your

fears, your doubts and miseries, your pain and tears, and all your sorrows press on it,

and keep the world a prisoner to your beliefs. 5 Death strikes it everywhere because

you hold the bitter thoughts of death within your mind.

W-pI.132.4. The world is nothing in itself. 2 Your mind must give it meaning. 3 And

what you behold upon it are your wishes, acted out so you can look on them and think them

real. 4 Perhaps you think you did not make the world, but came unwillingly to what was made

already, hardly waiting for your thoughts to give it meaning. 5 Yet in truth you found

exactly what you looked for when you came.

W-pI.132.5. There is no world apart from what you wish, and herein lies your ultimate

release. 2 Change but your mind on what you want to see, and all the world must change

accordingly. 3 Ideas leave not their source. 4 This central theme is often stated in the text, and

must be borne in mind if you would understand the lesson for today. 5 It is not pride

which tells you that you made the world you see, and that it changes as you change your mind.

W-pI.132.6. But it is pride that argues you have come into a world quite separate from

yourself, impervious to what you think, and quite apart from what you chance to think it is. 2

There is no world! 3 This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. 4 Not

everyone is ready to accept it, and each one must go as far as he can let himself be led along

the road to truth. 5 He will return and go still farther, or perhaps step back a while and

then return again.

W-pI.132.7. But healing is the gift of those who are prepared to learn there is no

world, and can accept the lesson now. 2 Their readiness will bring the lesson to them in

some form which they can understand and recognize. 3 Some see it suddenly on point of death,

and rise to teach it. 4 Others find it in experience that is not of this world, which

shows them that the world does not exist because what they behold must be the truth, and yet

it clearly contradicts the world.

W-pI.132.8. And some will find it in this course, and in the exercises that we do today.

2 Today's idea is true because the world does not exist. 3 And if it is indeed your

own imagining, then you can loose it from all things you ever thought it was by merely

changing all the thoughts that gave it these appearances. 4 The sick are healed as you let go

all thoughts of sickness, and the dead arise when you let thoughts of life replace all

thoughts you ever held of death.

W-pI.132.9. A lesson earlier repeated once must now be stressed again, for it contains

the firm foundation for today's idea. 2 You are as God created you. 3 There is no place

where you can suffer, and no time that can bring change to your eternal state. 4 How can a

world of time and place exist, if you remain as God created you?

W-pI.132.10. What is the lesson for today except another way of saying that to know

your Self is the salvation of the world? 2 To free the world from every kind of pain is but

to change your mind about yourself. 3 There is no world apart from your ideas because

ideas leave not their source, and you maintain the world within your mind in thought.

W-pI.132.11. Yet if you are as God created you, you cannot think apart from Him, nor

make what does not share His timelessness and Love. 2 Are these inherent in the world you

see? 3 Does it create like Him? 4 Unless it does, it is not real, and cannot be at all. 5

If you are real the world you see is false, for God's creation is unlike the world in

every way. 6 And as it was His Thought by which you were created, so it is your thoughts

which made it and must set it free, that you may know the Thoughts you share with God.

W-pI.132.12. Release the world! 2 Your real creations wait for this release to give you

fatherhood, not of illusions, but as God in truth. 3 God shares His Fatherhood with you

who are His Son, for He makes no distinctions in what is Himself and what is still

Himself. 4 What He creates is not apart from Him, and nowhere does the Father end, the Son

begin as something separate from Him.

W-pI.132.13. There is no world because it is a thought apart from God, and made to

separate the Father and the Son, and break away a part of God Himself and thus destroy His

Wholeness. 2 Can a world which comes from this idea be real? 3 Can it be anywhere? 4 Deny

illusions, but accept the truth. 5 Deny you are a shadow briefly laid upon a dying world. 6

Release your mind, and you will look upon a world released.

W-pI.132.14. Today our purpose is to free the world from all the idle thoughts we ever

held about it, and about all living things we see upon it. 2 They can not be there. 3 No

more can we. 4 For we are in the home our Father set for us, along with them. 5 And we who

are as He created us would loose the world this day from every one of our illusions, that

we may be free.

W-pI.132.15. Begin the fifteen-minute periods in which we practice twice today with

this:

2 I who remain as God created me would loose the world from all I thought it was. 3 For

I am real because the world is not, and I would know my own reality.

4 Then merely rest, alert but with no strain, and let your mind in quietness be changed

so that the world is freed, along with you.

W-pI.132.16. You need not realize that healing comes to many brothers far across the

world, as well as to the ones you see nearby, as you send out these thoughts to bless the

world. 2 But you will sense your own release, although you may not fully understand as yet

that you could never be released alone.

W-pI.132.17. Throughout the day, increase the freedom sent through your ideas to all

the world, and say whenever you are tempted to deny the power of your simple change of

mind:

2 I loose the world from all I thought it was, and choose my own reality instead.

LESSON 133.

I will not value what is valueless.

W-pI.133.1. Sometimes in teaching there is benefit, particularly after you have gone

through what seems theoretical and far from what the student has already learned, to bring him

back to practical concerns. 2 This we will do today. 3 We will not speak of lofty,

world-encompassing ideas, but dwell instead on benefits to you.

W-pI.133.2. You do not ask too much of life, but far too little. 2 When you let your

mind be drawn to bodily concerns, to things you buy, to eminence as valued by the world,

you ask for sorrow, not for happiness. 3 This course does not attempt to take from you the

little that you have. 4 It does not try to substitute utopian ideas for satisfactions

which the world contains. 5 There are no satisfactions in the world.

W-pI.133.3. Today we list the real criteria by which to test all things you think you

want. 2 Unless they meet these sound requirements, they are not worth desiring at all, for

they can but replace what offers more. 3 The laws that govern choice you cannot make, no

more than you can make alternatives from which to choose. 4 The choosing you can do; indeed,

you must. 5 But it is wise to learn the laws you set in motion when you choose, and

what alternatives you choose between.

W-pI.133.4. We have already stressed there are but two, however many there appear to be.

2 The range is set, and this we cannot change. 3 It would be most ungenerous to you to

let alternatives be limitless, and thus delay your final choice until you had

considered all of them in time; and not been brought so clearly to the place where there is but

one choice that must be made.

W-pI.133.5. Another kindly and related law is that there is no compromise in what your

choice must bring. 2 It cannot give you just a little, for there is no in between. 3 Each

choice you make brings everything to you or nothing. 4 Therefore, if you learn the tests by

which you can distinguish everything from nothing, you will make the better choice.

W-pI.133.6. First, if you choose a thing that will not last forever, what you chose is

valueless. 2 A temporary value is without all value. 3 Time can never take away a value that is

real. 4 What fades and dies was never there, and makes no offering to him who chooses it. 5

He is deceived by nothing in a form he thinks he likes.

W-pI.133.7. Next, if you choose to take a thing away from someone else, you will have

nothing left. 2 This is because, when you deny his right to everything, you have denied your

own. 3 You therefore will not recognize the things you really have, denying they are there.

4 Who seeks to take away has been deceived by the illusion loss can offer gain. 5 Yet

loss must offer loss, and nothing more.

W-pI.133.8. Your next consideration is the one on which the others rest. 2 Why is the

choice you make of value to you? 3 What attracts your mind to it? 4 What purpose does it

serve? 5 Here it is easiest of all to be deceived. 6 For what the ego wants it fails to

recognize. 7 It does not even tell the truth as it perceives it, for it needs to keep the halo

which it uses to protect its goals from tarnish and from rust, that you may see how "

innocent" it is.

W-pI.133.9. Yet is its camouflage a thin veneer, which could deceive but those who are

content to be deceived. 2 Its goals are obvious to anyone who cares to look for them. 3 Here

is deception doubled, for the one who is deceived will not perceive that he has merely

failed to gain. 4 He will believe that he has served the ego's hidden goals.

W-pI.133.10. Yet though he tries to keep its halo clear within his vision, still must

he perceive its tarnished edges and its rusted core. 2 His ineffectual mistakes appear as

sins to him, because he looks upon the tarnish as his own; the rust a sign of deep

unworthiness within himself. 3 He who would still preserve the ego's goals and serve them as his

own makes no mistakes, according to the dictates of his guide. 4 This guidance teaches it

is error to believe that sins are but mistakes, for who would suffer for his sins if this

were so?

W-pI.133.11. And so we come to the criterion for choice that is the hardest to believe,

because its obviousness is overlaid with many levels of obscurity. 2 If you feel any

guilt about your choice, you have allowed the ego's goals to come between the real

alternatives. 3 And thus you do not realize there are but two, and the alternative you think you

chose seems fearful, and too dangerous to be the nothingness it actually is.

W-pI.133.12. All things are valuable or valueless, worthy or not of being sought at all,

entirely desirable or not worth the slightest effort to obtain. 2 Choosing is easy

just because of this. 3 Complexity is nothing but a screen of smoke, which hides the very

simple fact that no decision can be difficult. 4 What is the gain to you in learning this? 5

It is far more than merely letting you make choices easily and without pain.

W-pI.133.13. Heaven itself is reached with empty hands and open minds, which come with

nothing to find everything and claim it as their own. 2 We will attempt to reach this state

today, with self-deception laid aside, and with an honest willingness to value but the truly

valuable and the real. 3 Our two extended practice periods of fifteen minutes each

begin with this:

4 I will not value what is valueless, and only what has value do I seek, for only that

do I desire to find.

W-pI.133.14. And then receive what waits for everyone who reaches, unencumbered, to the

gate of Heaven, which swings open as he comes. 2 Should you begin to let yourself

collect some needless burdens, or believe you see some difficult decisions facing you, be

quick to answer with this simple thought:

3 I will not value what is valueless, for what is valuable belongs to me.

LESSON 134.

Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.

W-pI.134.1. Let us review the meaning of "forgive," for it is apt to be distorted and

to be perceived as something that entails an unfair sacrifice of righteous wrath, a gift

unjustified and undeserved, and a complete denial of the truth. 2 In such a view, forgiveness must

be seen as mere eccentric folly, and this course appear to rest salvation on a whim.

W-pI.134.2. This twisted view of what forgiveness means is easily corrected, when you

can accept the fact that pardon is not asked for what is true. 2 It must be limited to

what is false. 3 It is irrelevant to everything except illusions. 4 Truth is God's creation,

and to pardon that is meaningless. 5 All truth belongs to Him, reflects His laws and

radiates His Love. 6 Does this need pardon? 7 How can you forgive the sinless and eternally

benign?

W-pI.134.3. The major difficulty that you find in genuine forgiveness on your part is

that you still believe you must forgive the truth, and not illusions. 2 You conceive of

pardon as a vain attempt to look past what is there; to overlook the truth, in an unfounded

effort to deceive yourself by making an illusion true. 3 This twisted viewpoint but reflects

the hold that the idea of sin retains as yet upon your mind, as you regard yourself.

W-pI.134.4. Because you think your sins are real, you look on pardon as deception. 2

For it is impossible to think of sin as true and not believe forgiveness is a lie. 3 Thus

is forgiveness really but a sin, like all the rest. 4 It says the truth is false, and

smiles on the corrupt as if they were as blameless as the grass; as white as snow. 5 It is

delusional in what it thinks it can accomplish. 6 It would see as right the plainly wrong; the

loathsome as the good.

W-pI.134.5. Pardon is no escape in such a view. 2 It merely is a further sign that sin

is unforgivable, at best to be concealed, denied or called another name, for pardon is a

treachery to truth. 3 Guilt cannot be forgiven. 4 If you sin, your guilt is everlasting. 5 Those

who are forgiven from the view their sins are real are pitifully mocked and twice

condemned; first, by themselves for what they think they did, and once again by those who pardon

them.

W-pI.134.6. It is sin's unreality that makes forgiveness natural and wholly sane, a

deep relief to those who offer it; a quiet blessing where it is received. 2 It does not

countenance illusions, but collects them lightly, with a little laugh, and gently lays them at the

feet of truth. 3 And there they disappear entirely.

W-pI.134.7. Forgiveness is the only thing that stands for truth in the illusions of the

world. 2 It sees their nothingness, and looks straight through the thousand forms in

which they may appear. 3 It looks on lies, but it is not deceived. 4 It does not heed the

self-accusing shrieks of sinners mad with guilt. 5 It looks on them with quiet eyes, and merely says

to them, "My brother, what you think is not the truth."

W-pI.134.8. The strength of pardon is its honesty, which is so uncorrupted that it sees

illusions as illusions, not as truth. 2 It is because of this that it becomes the

undeceiver in the face of lies; the great restorer of the simple truth. 3 By its ability to

overlook what is not there, it opens up the way to truth, which has been blocked by dreams of

guilt. 4 Now are you free to follow in the way your true forgiveness opens up to you. 5 For

if one brother has received this gift of you, the door is open to yourself.

W-pI.134.9. There is a very simple way to find the door to true forgiveness, and

perceive it open wide in welcome. 2 When you feel that you are tempted to accuse someone of sin

in any form, do not allow your mind to dwell on what you think he did, for that is

self-deception. 3 Ask instead, "Would I accuse myself of doing this?"

W-pI.134.10. Thus will you see alternatives for choice in terms that render choosing

meaningful, and keep your mind as free of guilt and pain as God Himself intended it to be, and as

it is in truth. 2 It is but lies that would condemn. 3 In truth is innocence the only

thing there is. 4 Forgiveness stands between illusions and the truth; between the world you

see and that which lies beyond; between the hell of guilt and Heaven's gate.

W-pI.134.11. Across this bridge, as powerful as love which laid its blessing on it, are

all dreams of evil and of hatred and attack brought silently to truth. 2 They are not

kept to swell and bluster, and to terrify the foolish dreamer who believes in them. 3 He

has been gently wakened from his dream by understanding what he thought he saw was never

there. 4 And now he cannot feel that all escape has been denied to him.

W-pI.134.12. He does not have to fight to save himself. 2 He does not have to kill the

dragons which he thought pursued him. 3 Nor need he erect the heavy walls of stone and iron

doors he thought would make him safe. 4 He can remove the ponderous and useless armor made

to chain his mind to fear and misery. 5 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.

W-pI.134.13. Forgiveness must be practiced, for the world cannot perceive its meaning,

nor provide a guide to teach you its beneficence. 2 There is no thought in all the world

that leads to any understanding of the laws it follows, nor the Thought that it reflects. 3

It is as alien to the world as is your own reality. 4 And yet it joins your mind with

the reality in you.

W-pI.134.14. Today we practice true forgiveness, that the time of joining be no more

delayed. 2 For we would meet with our reality in freedom and in peace. 3 Our practicing

becomes the footsteps lighting up the way for all our brothers, who will follow us to the

reality we share with them. 4 That this may be accomplished, let us give a quarter of an hour

twice today, and spend it with the Guide Who understands the meaning of forgiveness, and was

sent to us to teach it. 5 Let us ask of Him:

6 Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.

W-pI.134.15. Then choose one brother as He will direct, and catalogue his "sins," as

one by one they cross your mind. 2 Be certain not to dwell on any one of them, but realize

that you are using his "offenses" but to save the world from all ideas of sin. 3

Briefly consider all the evil things you thought of him, and each time ask yourself, "Would I

condemn myself for doing this?"

W-pI.134.16. Let him be freed from all the thoughts you had of sin in him. 2 And now

you are prepared for freedom. 3 If you have been practicing thus far in willingness and

honesty, you will begin to sense a lifting up, a lightening of weight across your chest, a

deep and certain feeling of relief. 4 The time remaining should be given to experiencing

the escape from all the heavy chains you sought to lay upon your brother, but were laid

upon yourself.

W-pI.134.17. Forgiveness should be practiced through the day, for there will still be

many times when you forget its meaning and attack yourself. 2 When this occurs, allow your

mind to see through this illusion as you tell yourself:

3 Let me perceive forgiveness as it is. 4 Would I accuse myself of doing this? 5 I will

not lay this chain upon myself.

6 In everything you do remember this:

7 No one is crucified alone, and yet no one can enter Heaven by himself.

LESSON 135.

If I defend myself I am attacked.

W-pI.135.1. Who would defend himself unless he thought he were attacked, that the

attack were real, and that his own defense could save himself? 2 And herein lies the folly of

defense; it gives illusions full reality, and then attempts to handle them as real. 3

It adds illusions to illusions, thus making correction doubly difficult. 4 And it is this

you do when you attempt to plan the future, activate the past, or organize the present

as you wish.

W-pI.135.2. You operate from the belief you must protect yourself from what is

happening because it must contain what threatens you. 2 A sense of threat is an acknowledgment

of an inherent weakness; a belief that there is danger which has power to call on you to

make appropriate defense. 3 The world is based on this insane belief. 4 And all its

structures, all its thoughts and doubts, its penalties and heavy armaments, its legal definitions

and its codes, its ethics and its leaders and its gods, all serve but to preserve its

sense of threat. 5 For no one walks the world in armature but must have terror striking at

his heart.

W-pI.135.3. Defense is frightening. 2 It stems from fear, increasing fear as each

defense is made. 3 You think it offers safety. 4 Yet it speaks of fear made real and terror

justified. 5 Is it not strange you do not pause to ask, as you elaborate your plans and make

your armor thicker and your locks more tight, what you defend, and how, and against what?

W-pI.135.4. Let us consider first what you defend. 2 It must be something that is very

weak and easily assaulted. 3 It must be something made easy prey, unable to protect itself

and needing your defense. 4 What but the body has such frailty that constant care and

watchful, deep concern are needful to protect its little life? 5 What but the body falters and

must fail to serve the Son of God as worthy host?

W-pI.135.5. Yet it is not the body that can fear, nor be a thing of fear. 2 It has no

needs but those which you assign to it. 3 It needs no complicated structures of defense, no

health-inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all. 4 Defend its life, or give it gifts to make

it beautiful or walls to make it safe, and you but say your home is open to the thief of

time, corruptible and crumbling, so unsafe it must be guarded with your very life.

W-pI.135.6. Is not this picture fearful? 2 Can you be at peace with such a concept of

your home? 3 Yet what endowed the body with the right to serve you thus except your own

belief? 4 It is your mind which gave the body all the functions that you see in it, and set

its value far beyond a little pile of dust and water. 5 Who would make defense of

something that he recognized as this?

W-pI.135.7. The body is in need of no defense. 2 This cannot be too often emphasized. 3

It will be strong and healthy if the mind does not abuse it by assigning it to roles it

cannot fill, to purposes beyond its scope, and to exalted aims which it cannot

accomplish. 4 Such attempts, ridiculous yet deeply cherished, are the sources for the many mad

attacks you make upon it. 5 For it seems to fail your hopes, your needs, your values and your

dreams.

W-pI.135.8. The "self" that needs protection is not real. 2 The body, valueless and

hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it

becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its

usefulness is over. 3 Who would want to keep it when its usefulness is done?

W-pI.135.9. Defend the body and you have attacked your mind. 2 For you have seen in it

the faults, the weaknesses, the limits and the lacks from which you think the body must be

saved. 3 You will not see the mind as separate from bodily conditions. 4 And you will

impose upon the body all the pain that comes from the conception of the mind as limited and

fragile, and apart from other minds and separate from its Source.

W-pI.135.10. These are the thoughts in need of healing, and the body will respond with

health when they have been corrected and replaced with truth. 2 This is the body's only real

defense. 3 Yet is this where you look for its defense? 4 You offer it protection of a kind

from which it gains no benefit at all, but merely adds to your distress of mind. 5 You do

not heal, but merely take away the hope of healing, for you fail to see where hope must

lie if it be meaningful.

W-pI.135.11. A healed mind does not plan. 2 It carries out the plans that it receives

through listening to wisdom that is not its own. 3 It waits until it has been taught what

should be done, and then proceeds to do it. 4 It does not depend upon itself for anything

except its adequacy to fulfill the plans assigned to it. 5 It is secure in certainty that

obstacles can not impede its progress to accomplishment of any goal that serves the greater plan

established for the good of everyone.

W-pI.135.12. A healed mind is relieved of the belief that it must plan, although it

cannot know the outcome which is best, the means by which it is achieved, nor how to

recognize the problem that the plan is made to solve. 2 It must misuse the body in its plans

until it recognizes this is so. 3 But when it has accepted this as true, then is it healed,

and lets the body go.

W-pI.135.13. Enslavement of the body to the plans the unhealed mind sets up to save

itself must make the body sick. 2 It is not free to be the means of helping in a plan which

far exceeds its own protection, and which needs its service for a little while. 3 In this

capacity is health assured. 4 For everything the mind employs for this will function flawlessly,

and with the strength that has been given it and cannot fail.

W-pI.135.14. It is, perhaps, not easy to perceive that self-initiated plans are but

defenses, with the purpose all of them were made to realize. 2 They are the means by which a

frightened mind would undertake its own protection, at the cost of truth. 3 This is not difficult

to realize in some forms which these self-deceptions take, where the denial of reality

is very obvious. 4 Yet planning is not often recognized as a defense.

W-pI.135.15. The mind engaged in planning for itself is occupied in setting up control

of future happenings. 2 It does not think that it will be provided for, unless it makes

its own provisions. 3 Time becomes a future emphasis, to be controlled by learning and

experience obtained from past events and previous beliefs. 4 It overlooks the present, for it

rests on the idea the past has taught enough to let the mind direct its future course.

W-pI.135.16. The mind that plans is thus refusing to allow for change. 2 What it has

learned before becomes the basis for its future goals. 3 Its past experience directs its

choice of what will happen. 4 And it does not see that here and now is everything it needs to

guarantee a future quite unlike the past, without a continuity of any old ideas and

sick beliefs. 5 Anticipation plays no part at all, for present confidence directs the way.

W-pI.135.17. Defenses are the plans you undertake to make against the truth. 2 Their

aim is to select what you approve, and disregard what you consider incompatible with your

beliefs of your reality. 3 Yet what remains is meaningless indeed. 4 For it is your reality

that is the "threat" which your defenses would attack, obscure, and take apart and crucify.

W-pI.135.18. What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens,

all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is

your good? 2 Perhaps you have misunderstood His plan, for He would never offer pain to you.

3 But your defenses did not let you see His loving blessing shine in every step you

ever took. 4 While you made plans for death, He led you gently to eternal life.

W-pI.135.19. Your present trust in Him is the defense that promises a future

undisturbed, without a trace of sorrow, and with joy that constantly increases, as this life

becomes a holy instant, set in time, but heeding only immortality. 2 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.135.20. Without defenses, you become a light which Heaven gratefully acknowledges

to be its own. 2 And it will lead you on in ways appointed for your happiness according

to the ancient plan, begun when time was born. 3 Your followers will join their light

with yours, and it will be increased until the world is lighted up with joy. 4 And gladly

will our brothers lay aside their cumbersome defenses, which availed them nothing and could

only terrify.

W-pI.135.21. We will anticipate that time today with present confidence, for this is

part of what was planned for us. 2 We will be sure that everything we need is given us for

our accomplishment of this today. 3 We make no plans for how it will be done, but realize

that our defenselessness is all that is required for the truth to dawn upon our minds with

certainty.

W-pI.135.22. For fifteen minutes twice today we rest from senseless planning, and from

every thought that blocks the truth from entering our minds. 2 Today we will receive instead

of plan, that we may give instead of organize. 3 And we are given truly, as we say:

4 If I defend myself I am attacked. 5 But in defenselessness I will be strong, and I

will learn what my defenses hide.

W-pI.135.23. Nothing but that. 2 If there are plans to make, you will be told of them.

3 They may not be the plans you thought were needed, nor indeed the answers to the

problems which you thought confronted you. 4 But they are answers to another kind of question,

which remains unanswered yet in need of answering until the Answer comes to you at last.

W-pI.135.24. All your defenses have been aimed at not receiving what you will receive

today. 2 And in the light and joy of simple trust, you will but wonder why you ever thought

that you must be defended from release. 3 Heaven asks nothing. 4 It is hell that makes

extravagant demands for sacrifice. 5 You give up nothing in these times today when, undefended,

you present yourself to your Creator as you really are.

W-pI.135.25. He has remembered you. 2 Today we will remember Him. 3 For this is

Eastertime in your salvation. 4 And you rise again from what was seeming death and hopelessness.

5 Now is the light of hope reborn in you, for now you come without defense, to learn the

part for you within the plan of God. 6 What little plans or magical beliefs can still

have value, when you have received your function from the Voice for God Himself?

W-pI.135.26. Try not to shape this day as you believe would benefit you most. 2 For you

can not conceive of all the happiness that comes to you without your planning. 3 Learn

today. 4 And all the world will take this giant stride, and celebrate your Eastertime with

you. 5 Throughout the day, as foolish little things appear to raise defensiveness in you

and tempt you to engage in weaving plans, remind yourself this is a special day for

learning, and acknowledge it with this:

6 This is my Eastertime. 7 And I would keep it holy. 8 I will not defend myself,

because the Son of God needs no defense against the truth of his reality.

LESSON 136.

Sickness is a defense against the truth.

W-pI.136.1. No one can heal unless he understands what purpose sickness seems to serve.

2 For then he understands as well its purpose has no meaning. 3 Being causeless and

without a meaningful intent of any kind, it cannot be at all. 4 When this is seen, healing is

automatic. 5 It dispels this meaningless illusion by the same approach that carries all of them

to truth, and merely leaves them there to disappear.

W-pI.136.2. Sickness is not an accident. 2 Like all defenses, it is an insane device

for self-deception. 3 And like all the rest, its purpose is to hide reality, attack it,

change it, render it inept, distort it, twist it, or reduce it to a little pile of

unassembled parts. 4 The aim of all defenses is to keep the truth from being whole. 5 The parts

are seen as if each one were whole within itself.

W-pI.136.3. Defenses are not unintentional, nor are they made without awareness. 2 They

are secret, magic wands you wave when truth appears to threaten what you would believe.

3 They seem to be unconscious but because of the rapidity with which you choose to use

them. 4 In that second, even less, in which the choice is made, you recognize exactly what

you would attempt to do, and then proceed to think that it is done.

W-pI.136.4. Who but yourself evaluates a threat, decides escape is necessary, and sets

up a series of defenses to reduce the threat that has been judged as real? 2 All this

cannot be done unconsciously. 3 But afterwards, your plan requires that you must forget you

made it, so it seems to be external to your own intent; a happening beyond your state of

mind, an outcome with a real effect on you, instead of one effected by yourself.

W-pI.136.5. It is this quick forgetting of the part you play in making your "reality"

that makes defenses seem to be beyond your own control. 2 But what you have forgot can be

remembered, given willingness to reconsider the decision which is doubly shielded by oblivion. 3

Your not remembering is but the sign that this decision still remains in force, as far as

your desires are concerned. 4 Mistake not this for fact. 5 Defenses must make facts

unrecognizable. 6 They aim at doing this, and it is this they do.

W-pI.136.6. Every defense takes fragments of the whole, assembles them without regard

to all their true relationships, and thus constructs illusions of a whole that is not

there. 2 It is this process that imposes threat, and not whatever outcome may result. 3 When

parts are wrested from the whole and seen as separate and wholes within themselves,

they become symbols standing for attack upon the whole; successful in effect, and never to

be seen as whole again. 4 And yet you have forgotten that they stand but for your own

decision of what should be real, to take the place of what is real.

W-pI.136.7. Sickness is a decision. 2 It is not a thing that happens to you, quite

unsought, which makes you weak and brings you suffering. 3 It is a choice you make, a plan you

lay, when for an instant truth arises in your own deluded mind, and all your world appears

to totter and prepare to fall. 4 Now are you sick, that truth may go away and threaten

your establishments no more.

W-pI.136.8. How do you think that sickness can succeed in shielding you from truth? 2

Because it proves the body is not separate from you, and so you must be separate from the

truth. 3 You suffer pain because the body does, and in this pain are you made one with it. 4

Thus is your "true" identity preserved, and the strange, haunting thought that you

might be something beyond this little pile of dust silenced and stilled. 5 For see, this

dust can make you suffer, twist your limbs and stop your heart, commanding you to die and

cease to be.

W-pI.136.9. Thus is the body stronger than the truth, which asks you live, but cannot

overcome your choice to die. 2 And so the body is more powerful than everlasting life, Heaven

more frail than hell, and God's design for the salvation of His Son opposed by a decision

stronger than His Will. 3 His Son is dust, the Father incomplete, and chaos sits in triumph on

His throne.

W-pI.136.10. Such is your planning for your own defense. 2 And you believe that Heaven

quails before such mad attacks as these, with God made blind by your illusions, truth turned

into lies, and all the universe made slave to laws which your defenses would impose on it.

3 Yet who believes illusions but the one who made them up? 4 Who else can see them and

react to them as if they were the truth?

W-pI.136.11. God knows not of your plans to change His Will. 2 The universe remains

unheeding of the laws by which you thought to govern it. 3 And Heaven has not bowed to hell, nor

life to death. 4 You can but choose to think you die, or suffer sickness or distort the

truth in any way. 5 What is created is apart from all of this. 6 Defenses are plans to

defeat what cannot be attacked. 7 What is unalterable cannot change. 8 And what is wholly

sinless cannot sin.

W-pI.136.12. Such is the simple truth. 2 It does not make appeal to might nor triumph.

3 It does not command obedience, nor seek to prove how pitiful and futile your attempts

to plan defenses that would alter it. 4 Truth merely wants to give you happiness, for

such its purpose is. 5 Perhaps it sighs a little when you throw away its gifts, and yet it

knows, with perfect certainty, that what God wills for you must be received.

W-pI.136.13. It is this fact that demonstrates that time is an illusion. 2 For time

lets you think what God has given you is not the truth right now, as it must be. 3 The

Thoughts of God are quite apart from time. 4 For time is but another meaningless defense you

made against the truth. 5 Yet what He wills is here, and you remain as He created you.

W-pI.136.14. Truth has a power far beyond defense, for no illusions can remain where

truth has been allowed to enter. 2 And it comes to any mind that would lay down its arms,

and cease to play with folly. 3 It is found at any time; today, if you will choose to

practice giving welcome to the truth.

W-pI.136.15. This is our aim today. 2 And we will give a quarter of an hour twice to

ask the truth to come to us and set us free. 3 And truth will come, for it has never been

apart from us. 4 It merely waits for just this invitation which we give today. 5 We

introduce it with a healing prayer, to help us rise above defensiveness, and let truth be as it

has always been:

6 Sickness is a defense against the truth. 7 I will accept the truth of what I am, and

let my mind be wholly healed today.

W-pI.136.16. Healing will flash across your open mind, as peace and truth arise to take

the place of war and vain imaginings. 2 There will be no dark corners sickness can

conceal, and keep defended from the light of truth. 3 There will be no dim figures from your

dreams, nor their obscure and meaningless pursuits with double purposes insanely sought,

remaining in your mind. 4 It will be healed of all the sickly wishes that it tried to authorize

the body to obey.

W-pI.136.17. Now is the body healed, because the source of sickness has been opened to

relief. 2 And you will recognize you practiced well by this: The body should not feel at all.

3 If you have been successful, there will be no sense of feeling ill or feeling well,

of pain or pleasure. 4 No response at all is in the mind to what the body does. 5 Its

usefulness remains and nothing more.

W-pI.136.18. Perhaps you do not realize that this removes the limits you had placed

upon the body by the purposes you gave to it. 2 As these are laid aside, the strength the

body has will always be enough to serve all truly useful purposes. 3 The body's 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. 4 You need do nothing now to make it well, for

sickness has become impossible.

W-pI.136.19. Yet this protection needs to be preserved by careful watching. 2 If you

let your mind harbor attack thoughts, yield to judgment or make plans against

uncertainties to come, you have again misplaced yourself, and made a bodily identity which will

attack the body, for the mind is sick.

W-pI.136.20. Give instant remedy, should this occur, by not allowing your defensiveness

to hurt you longer. 2 Do not be confused about what must be healed, but tell yourself:

3 I have forgotten what I really am, for I mistook my body for myself. 4 Sickness is a

defense against the truth. 5 But I am not a body. 6 And my mind cannot attack. 7 So I can not

be sick.

LESSON 137.

When I am healed I am not healed alone.

W-pI.137.1. Today's idea remains the central thought on which salvation rests. 2 For

healing is the opposite of all the world's ideas which dwell on sickness and on separate

states. 3 Sickness is a retreat from others, and a shutting off of joining. 4 It becomes a

door that closes on a separate self, and keeps it isolated and alone.

W-pI.137.2. Sickness is isolation. 2 For it seems to keep one self apart from all the

rest, to suffer what the others do not feel. 3 It gives the body final power to make the

separation real, and keep the mind in solitary prison, split apart and held in pieces by a solid

wall of sickened flesh, which it can not surmount.

W-pI.137.3. The world obeys the laws that sickness serves, but healing operates apart

from them. 2 It is impossible that anyone be healed alone. 3 In sickness must he be apart

and separate. 4 But healing is his own decision to be one again, and to accept his Self

with all Its parts intact and unassailed. 5 In sickness does his Self appear to be

dismembered, and without the unity that gives It life. 6 But healing is accomplished as he sees

the body has no power to attack the universal Oneness of God's Son.

W-pI.137.4. Sickness would prove that lies must be the truth. 2 But healing

demonstrates that truth is true. 3 The separation sickness would impose has never really happened.

4 To be healed is merely to accept what always was the simple truth, and always will

remain exactly as it has forever been. 5 Yet eyes accustomed to illusions must be shown that

what they look upon is false. 6 So healing, never needed by the truth, must demonstrate

that sickness is not real.

W-pI.137.5. Healing might thus be called a counter-dream, which cancels out the dream

of sickness in the name of truth, but not in truth itself. 2 Just as forgiveness

overlooks all sins that never were accomplished, healing but removes illusions that have not

occurred. 3 Just as the real world will arise to take the place of what has never been at all,

healing but offers restitution for imagined states and false ideas which dreams embroider into

pictures of the truth.

W-pI.137.6. Yet think not healing is unworthy of your function here. 2 For anti-Christ

becomes more powerful than Christ to those who dream the world is real. 3 The body seems to be

more solid and more stable than the mind. 4 And love becomes a dream, while fear

remains the one reality that can be seen and justified and fully understood.

W-pI.137.7. Just as forgiveness shines away all sin and the real world will occupy the

place of what you made, so healing must replace the fantasies of sickness which you hold

before the simple truth. 2 When sickness has been seen to disappear in spite of all the laws

that hold it cannot but be real, then questions have been answered. 3 And the laws can be

no longer cherished nor obeyed.

W-pI.137.8. Healing is freedom. 2 For it demonstrates that dreams will not prevail

against the truth. 3 Healing is shared. 4 And by this attribute it proves that laws unlike the

ones which hold that sickness is inevitable are more potent than their sickly opposites.

5 Healing is strength. 6 For by its gentle hand is weakness overcome, and minds that

were walled off within a body free to join with other minds, to be forever strong.

W-pI.137.9. Healing, forgiveness, and the glad exchange of all the world of sorrow for

a world where sadness cannot enter, are the means by which the Holy Spirit urges you to

follow Him. 2 His gentle lessons teach how easily salvation can be yours; how little practice

you need undertake to let His laws replace the ones you made to hold yourself a

prisoner to death. 3 His life becomes your own, as you extend the little help He asks in

freeing you from everything that ever caused you pain.

W-pI.137.10. 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. 2 Perhaps you will not recognize them all, nor realize how great your

offering to all the world, when you let healing come to you. 3 But you are never healed alone.

4 And legions upon legions will receive the gift that you receive when you are healed.

W-pI.137.11. Those who are healed become the instruments of healing. 2 Nor does time

elapse between the instant they are healed, and all the grace of healing it is given them to

give. 3 What is opposed to God does not exist, and who accepts it not within his mind

becomes a haven where the weary can remain to rest. 4 For here is truth bestowed, and here are

all illusions brought to truth.

W-pI.137.12. Would you not offer shelter to God's Will? 2 You but invite your Self to

be at home. 3 And can this invitation be refused? 4 Ask the inevitable to occur, and you

will never fail. 5 The other choice is but to ask what cannot be to be, and this can not

succeed. 6 Today we ask that only truth will occupy our minds; that thoughts of healing will

this day go forth from what is healed to what must yet be healed, aware that they will both

occur as one.

W-pI.137.13. We will remember, as the hour strikes, our function is to let our minds be

healed, that we may carry healing to the world, exchanging curse for blessing, pain for

joy, and separation for the peace of God. 2 Is not a minute of the hour worth the

giving to receive a gift like this? 3 Is not a little time a small expense to offer for the

gift of everything?

W-pI.137.14. Yet must we be prepared for such a gift. 2 And so we will begin the day

with this, and give ten minutes to these thoughts with which we will conclude today at

night as well:

3 When I am healed I am not healed alone. 4 And I would share my healing with the world,

that sickness may be banished from the mind of God's one Son, Who is my only Self.

W-pI.137.15. Let healing be through you this very day. 2 And as you rest in quiet, be

prepared to give as you receive, to hold but what you give, and to receive the Word of God to

take the place of all the foolish thoughts that ever were imagined. 3 Now we come together

to make well all that was sick, and offer blessing where there was attack. 4 Nor will we

let this function be forgot as every hour of the day slips by, remembering our purpose

with this thought:

5 When I am healed I am not healed alone. 6 And I would bless my brothers, for I would

be healed with them, as they are healed with me.

LESSON 138.

Heaven is the decision I must make.

W-pI.138.1. In this world Heaven is a choice, because here we believe there are

alternatives to choose between. 2 We think that all things have an opposite, and what we want we

choose. 3 If Heaven exists there must be hell as well, for contradiction is the way we make

what we perceive, and what we think is real.

W-pI.138.2. Creation knows no opposite. 2 But here is opposition part of being "real."

3 It is this strange perception of the truth that makes the choice of Heaven seem to be

the same as the relinquishment of hell. 4 It is not really thus. 5 Yet what is true in

God's creation cannot enter here until it is reflected in some form the world can understand.

6 Truth cannot come where it could only be perceived with fear. 7 For this would be

the error truth can be brought to illusions. 8 Opposition makes the truth unwelcome, and

it cannot come.

W-pI.138.3. Choice is the obvious escape from what appears as opposites. 2 Decision

lets one of conflicting goals become the aim of effort and expenditure of time. 3 Without

decision, time is but a waste and effort dissipated. 4 It is spent for nothing in return, and

time goes by without results. 5 There is no sense of gain, for nothing is accomplished;

nothing learned.

W-pI.138.4. You need to be reminded that you think a thousand choices are confronting

you, when there is really only one to make. 2 And even this but seems to be a choice. 3 Do

not confuse yourself with all the doubts that myriad decisions would induce. 4 You make

but one. 5 And when that one is made, you will perceive it was no choice at all. 6 For

truth is true, and nothing else is true. 7 There is no opposite to choose instead. 8 There

is no contradiction to the truth.

W-pI.138.5. Choosing depends on learning. 2 And the truth cannot be learned, but only

recognized. 3 In recognition its acceptance lies, and as it is accepted it is known. 4 But

knowledge is beyond the goals we seek to teach within the framework of this course. 5 Ours are

teaching goals, to be attained through learning how to reach them, what they are, and what they

offer you. 6 Decisions are the outcome of your learning, for they rest on what you have

accepted as the truth of what you are, and what your needs must be.

W-pI.138.6. In this insanely complicated world, Heaven appears to take the form of

choice, rather than merely being what it is. 2 Of all the choices you have tried to make this

is the simplest, most definitive and prototype of all the rest, the one which settles

all decisions. 3 If you could decide the rest, this one remains unsolved. 4 But when you

solve this one, the others are resolved with it, for all decisions but conceal this one by

taking different forms. 5 Here is the final and the only choice in which is truth accepted or

denied.

W-pI.138.7. So we begin today considering the choice that time was made to help us make.

2 Such is its holy purpose, now transformed from the intent you gave it; that it be a

means for demonstrating hell is real, hope changes to despair, and life itself must in the

end be overcome by death. 3 In death alone are opposites resolved, for ending opposition

is to die. 4 And thus salvation must be seen as death, for life is seen as conflict. 5 To

resolve the conflict is to end your life as well.

W-pI.138.8. 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. 2 It must be saved from salvation, threatened to be safe, and magically

armored against truth. 3 And these decisions are made unaware, to keep them safely

undisturbed; apart from question and from reason and from doubt.

W-pI.138.9. Heaven is chosen consciously. 2 The choice cannot be made until

alternatives are accurately seen and understood. 3 All that is veiled in shadows must be raised to

understanding, to be judged again, this time with Heaven's help. 4 And all mistakes in judgment that

the mind had made before are open to correction, as the truth dismisses them as

causeless. 5 Now are they without effects. 6 They cannot be concealed, because their nothingness

is recognized.

W-pI.138.10. The conscious choice of Heaven is as sure as is the ending of the fear of

hell, when it is raised from its protective shield of unawareness, and is brought to light.

2 Who can decide between the clearly seen and the unrecognized? 3 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? 4 Who hesitates to make a

choice like this? 5 And shall we hesitate to choose today?

W-pI.138.11. We make the choice for Heaven as we wake, and spend five minutes making

sure that we have made the one decision that is sane. 2 We recognize we make a conscious

choice between what has existence and what has nothing but an appearance of the truth. 3 Its

pseudo-being, brought to what is real, is flimsy and transparent in the light. 4 It holds no terror

now, for what was made enormous, vengeful, pitiless with hate, demands obscurity for

fear to be invested there. 5 Now it is recognized as but a foolish, trivial mistake.

W-pI.138.12. Before we close our eyes in sleep tonight, we reaffirm the choice that we

have made each hour in between. 2 And now we give the last five minutes of our waking day

to the decision with which we awoke. 3 As every hour passed, we have declared our choice

again, in a brief quiet time devoted to maintaining sanity. 4 And finally, we close the day

with this, acknowledging we chose but what we want:

5 Heaven is the decision I must make. 6 I make it now, and will not change my mind,

because it is the only thing I want.

LESSON 139.

I will accept Atonement for myself.

W-pI.139.1. Here is the end of choice. 2 For here we come to a decision to accept

ourselves as God created us. 3 And what is choice except uncertainty of what we are? 4 There is

no doubt that is not rooted here. 5 There is no question but reflects this one. 6 There

is no conflict that does not entail the single, simple question, "What am I?"

W-pI.139.2. Yet who could ask this question except one who has refused to recognize

himself? 2 Only refusal to accept yourself could make the question seem to be sincere. 3 The

only thing that can be surely known by any living thing is what it is. 4 From this one

point of certainty, it looks on other things as certain as itself.

W-pI.139.3. Uncertainty about what you must be is self-deception on a scale so vast,

its magnitude can hardly be conceived. 2 To be alive and not to know yourself is to

believe that you are really dead. 3 For what is life except to be yourself, and what but you

can be alive instead? 4 Who is the doubter? 5 What is it he doubts? 6 Whom does he

question? 7 Who can answer him?

W-pI.139.4. He merely states that he is not himself, and therefore, being something

else, becomes a questioner of what that something is. 2 Yet he could never be alive at all

unless he knew the answer. 3 If he asks as if he does not know, it merely shows he does not

want to be the thing he is. 4 He has accepted it because he lives; has judged against it

and denied its worth, and has decided that he does not know the only certainty by which he

lives.

W-pI.139.5. Thus he becomes uncertain of his life, for what it is has been denied by

him. 2 It is for this denial that you need Atonement. 3 Your denial made no change in what

you are. 4 But you have split your mind into what knows and does not know the truth. 5

You are yourself. 6 There is no doubt of this. 7 And yet you doubt it. 8 But you do not

ask what part of you can really doubt yourself. 9 It cannot really be a part of you that

asks this question. 10 For it asks of one who knows the answer. 11 Were it part of you,

then certainty would be impossible.

W-pI.139.6. Atonement remedies the strange idea that it is possible to doubt yourself,

and be unsure of what you really are. 2 This is the depth of madness. 3 Yet it is the

universal question of the world. 4 What does this mean except the world is mad? 5 Why share its

madness in the sad belief that what is universal here is true?

W-pI.139.7. Nothing the world believes is true. 2 It is a place whose purpose is to be

a home where those who claim they do not know themselves can come to question what it is

they are. 3 And they will come again until the time Atonement is accepted, and they

learn it is impossible to doubt yourself, and not to be aware of what you are.

W-pI.139.8. Only acceptance can be asked of you, for what you are is certain. 2 It is

set forever in the holy Mind of God, and in your own. 3 It is so far beyond all doubt and

question that to ask what it must be is all the proof you need to show that you believe the

contradiction that you know not what you cannot fail to know. 4 Is this a question, or a statement

which denies itself in statement? 5 Let us not allow our holy minds to occupy themselves

with senseless musings such as this.

W-pI.139.9. We have a mission here. 2 We did not come to reinforce the madness that we

once believed in. 3 Let us not forget the goal that we accepted. 4 It is more than just our

happiness alone we came to gain. 5 What we accept as what we are proclaims what

everyone must be, along with us. 6 Fail not your brothers, or you fail yourself. 7 Look

lovingly on them, that they may know that they are part of you, and you of them.

W-pI.139.10. This does Atonement teach, and demonstrates the Oneness of God's Son is

unassailed by his belief he knows not what he is. 2 Today accept Atonement, not to change reality,

but merely to accept the truth about yourself, and go your way rejoicing in the

endless Love of God. 3 It is but this that we are asked to do. 4 It is but this that we will

do today.

W-pI.139.11. Five minutes in the morning and at night we will devote to dedicate our

minds to our assignment for today. 2 We start with this review of what our mission is:

3 I will accept Atonement for myself, For I remain as God created me.

4 We have not lost the knowledge that God gave to us when He created us like Him. 5 We

can remember it for everyone, for in creation are all minds as one. 6 And in our memory is

the recall how dear our brothers are to us in truth, how much a part of us is every

mind, how faithful they have really been to us, and how our Father's Love contains them all.

W-pI.139.12. In thanks for all creation, in the Name of its Creator and His Oneness

with all aspects of creation, we repeat our dedication to our cause today each hour, as we

lay aside all thoughts that would distract us from our holy aim. 2 For several minutes let

your mind be cleared of all the foolish cobwebs which the world would weave around the

holy Son of God. 3 And learn the fragile nature of the chains that seem to keep the

knowledge of yourself apart from your awareness, as you say:

4 I will accept Atonement for myself, For I remain as God created me.

LESSON 140.

Only salvation can be said to cure.

W-pI.140.1. "Cure" is a word that cannot be applied to any remedy the world accepts as

beneficial. 2 What the world perceives as therapeutic is but what will make the body "better." 3

When it tries to heal the mind, it sees no separation from the body, where it thinks the

mind exists. 4 Its forms of healing thus must substitute illusion for illusion. 5 One

belief in sickness takes another form, and so the patient now perceives himself as well.

W-pI.140.2. He is not healed. 2 He merely had a dream that he was sick, and in the

dream he found a magic formula to make him well. 3 Yet he has not awakened from the dream,

and so his mind remains exactly as it was before. 4 He has not seen the light that would

awaken him and end the dream. 5 What difference does the content of a dream make in reality?

6 One either sleeps or wakens. 7 There is nothing in between.

W-pI.140.3. The happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings are different from the dreaming of

the world, where one can merely dream he is awake. 2 The dreams forgiveness lets the mind

perceive do not induce another form of sleep, so that the dreamer dreams another dream. 3 His

happy dreams are heralds of the dawn of truth upon the mind. 4 They lead from sleep to

gentle waking, so that dreams are gone. 5 And thus they cure for all eternity.

W-pI.140.4. Atonement heals with certainty, and cures all sickness. 2 For the mind

which understands that sickness can be nothing but a dream is not deceived by forms the

dream may take. 3 Sickness where guilt is absent cannot come, for it is but another form of

guilt. 4 Atonement does not heal the sick, for that is not a cure. 5 It takes away the guilt

that makes the sickness possible. 6 And that is cure indeed. 7 For sickness now is gone,

with nothing left to which it can return.

W-pI.140.5. Peace be to you who have been cured in God, and not in idle dreams. 2 For

cure must come from holiness, and holiness can not be found where sin is cherished. 3 God

abides in holy temples. 4 He is barred where sin has entered. 5 Yet there is no place where

He is not. 6 And therefore sin can have no home in which to hide from His beneficence. 7

There is no place where holiness is not, and nowhere sin and sickness can abide.

W-pI.140.6. This is the thought that cures. 2 It does not make distinctions among

unrealities. 3 Nor does it seek to heal what is not sick, unmindful where the need for healing is.

4 This is no magic. 5 It is merely an appeal to truth, which cannot fail to heal and

heal forever. 6 It is not a thought that judges an illusion by its size, its seeming

gravity, or anything that is related to the form it takes. 7 It merely focuses on what it is,

and knows that no illusion can be real.

W-pI.140.7. Let us not try today to seek to cure what cannot suffer sickness. 2 Healing

must be sought but where it is, and then applied to what is sick, so that it can be

cured. 3 There is no remedy the world provides that can effect a change in anything. 4 The

mind that brings illusions to the truth is really changed. 5 There is no change but this. 6

For how can one illusion differ from another but in attributes that have no substance,

no reality, no core, and nothing that is truly different?

W-pI.140.8. Today we seek to change our minds about the source of sickness, for we seek

a cure for all illusions, not another shift among them. 2 We will try today to find the

source of healing, which is in our minds because our Father placed it there for us. 3

It is not farther from us than ourselves. 4 It is as near to us as our own thoughts; so

close it is impossible to lose. 5 We need but seek it and it must be found.

W-pI.140.9. We will not be misled today by what appears to us as sick. 2 We go beyond

appearances today and reach the source of healing, from which nothing is exempt. 3 We will succeed

to the extent to which we realize that there can never be a meaningful distinction made

between what is untrue and equally untrue. 4 Here there are no degrees, and no beliefs

that what does not exist is truer in some forms than others. 5 All of them are false, and

can be cured because they are not true.

W-pI.140.10. So do we lay aside our amulets, our charms and medicines, our chants and

bits of magic in whatever form they take. 2 We will be still and listen for the Voice of

healing, which will cure all ills as one, restoring saneness to the Son of God. 3 No voice but

this can cure. 4 Today we hear a single Voice which speaks to us of truth, where all

illusions end, and peace returns to the eternal, quiet home of God.

W-pI.140.11. We waken hearing Him, and let Him speak to us five minutes as the day

begins, and end the day by listening again five minutes more before we go to sleep. 2 Our

only preparation is to let our interfering thoughts be laid aside, not separately, but all

of them as one. 3 They are the same. 4 We have no need to make them different, and thus

delay the time when we can hear our Father speak to us. 5 We hear Him now. 6 We come to Him

today.

W-pI.140.12. With nothing in our hands to which we cling, with lifted hearts and

listening minds we pray:

2 Only salvation can be said to cure.

3 Speak to us, Father, that we may be healed.

4 And we will feel salvation cover us with soft protection, and with peace so deep that

no illusion can disturb our minds, nor offer proof to us that it is real. 5 This will

we learn today. 6 And we will say our prayer for healing hourly, and take a minute as the

hour strikes, to hear the answer to our prayer be given us as we attend in silence and

in joy. 7 This is the day when healing comes to us. 8 This is the day when separation

ends, and we remember Who we really are.

REVIEW IV

Introduction

W-pI.rIV.in.1. Now we review again, this time aware we are preparing for the second

part of learning how the truth can be applied. 2 Today we will begin to concentrate on

readiness for what will follow next. 3 Such is our aim for this review, and for the lessons

following. 4 Thus, we review the recent lessons and their central thoughts in such a way as will

facilitate the readiness that we would now achieve.

W-pI.rIV.in.2. There is a central theme that unifies each step in the review we

undertake, which can be simply stated in these words:

2 My mind holds only what I think with God.

3 That is a fact, and represents the truth of What you are and What your Father is. 4

It is this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as

co-creator with Himself. 5 It is this thought that fully guarantees salvation to the Son. 6 For

in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. 7 Lack of forgiveness

blocks this thought from his awareness. 8 Yet it is forever true.

W-pI.rIV.in.3. Let us begin our preparation with some understanding of the many forms

in which the lack of true forgiveness may be carefully concealed. 2 Because they are

illusions, they are not perceived to be but what they are; defenses that protect your

unforgiving thoughts from being seen and recognized. 3 Their purpose is to show you something else,

and hold correction off through self-deceptions made to take its place.

W-pI.rIV.in.4. And yet, your mind holds only what you think with God. 2 Your

self-deceptions cannot take the place of truth. 3 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. 4 So do we start each practice period in this

review with readying our minds to understand the lessons that we read, and see the meaning

that they offer us.

W-pI.rIV.in.5. Begin each day with time devoted to the preparation of your mind to

learn what each idea you will review that day can offer you in freedom and in peace. 2 Open

your mind, and clear it of all thoughts that would deceive, and let this thought alone

engage it fully, and remove the rest:

3 My mind holds only what I think with God.

4 Five minutes with this thought will be enough to set the day along the lines which

God appointed, and to place His Mind in charge of all the thoughts you will receive that

day.

W-pI.rIV.in.6. They will not come from you alone, for they will all be shared with Him.

2 And so each one will bring the message of His Love to you, returning messages of

yours to Him. 3 So will communion with the Lord of Hosts be yours, as He Himself has willed

it be. 4 And as His Own completion joins with Him, so will He join with you who are

complete as you unite with Him, and He with you.

W-pI.rIV.in.7. After your preparation, merely read each of the two ideas assigned to

you to be reviewed that day. 2 Then close your eyes, and say them slowly to yourself. 3

There is no hurry now, for you are using time for its intended purpose. 4 Let each word

shine with the meaning God has given it, as it was given to you through His Voice. 5 Let

each idea which you review that day give you the gift that He has laid in it for you to

have of Him. 6 And we will use no format for our practicing but this:

W-pI.rIV.in.8. Each hour of the day, bring to your mind the thought with which the day

began, and spend a quiet moment with it. 2 Then repeat the two ideas you practice for the

day unhurriedly, with time enough to see the gifts that they contain for you, and let them

be received where they were meant to be.

W-pI.rIV.in.9. We add no other thoughts, but let these be the messages they are. 2 We

need no more than this to give us happiness and rest, and endless quiet, perfect certainty,

and all our Father wills that we receive as the inheritance we have of Him. 3 Each day

of practicing, as we review, we close as we began, repeating first the thought that made

the day a special time of blessing and of happiness for us; and through our faithfulness

restored the world from darkness to the light, from grief to joy, from pain to peace, from sin

to holiness.

W-pI.rIV.in.10. God offers thanks to you who practice thus the keeping of His Word. 2

And as you give your mind to the ideas for the day again before you sleep, His gratitude

surrounds you in the peace wherein He wills you be forever, and are learning now to claim again

as your inheritance.

LESSON 141.

My mind holds only what I think with God

W-pI.141.1. (121) Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

W-pI.141.2. (122) Forgiveness offers everything I want.

LESSON 142.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.142.1. (123) I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

W-pI.142.2. (124) Let me remember I am one with God.

LESSON 143.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.143.1. (125) In quiet I receive God's Word today.

W-pI.143.2. (126) All that I give is given to myself.

LESSON 144.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.144.1. (127) There is no love but God's.

W-pI.144.2. (128) The world I see holds nothing that I want.

LESSON 145.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.145.1. (129) Beyond this world there is a world I want.

W-pI.145.2. (130) It is impossible to see two worlds.

LESSON 146.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.146.1. (131) No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

W-pI.146.2. (132) I loose the world from all I thought it was.

LESSON 147.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.147.1. (133) I will not value what is valueless.

W-pI.147.2. (134) Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.

LESSON 148.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.148.1. (135) If I defend myself I am attacked.

W-pI.148.2. (136) Sickness is a defense against the truth.

LESSON 149.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.149.1. (137) When I am healed I am not healed alone.

W-pI.149.2. (138) Heaven is the decision I must make.

LESSON 150.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

W-pI.150.1. (139) I will accept Atonement for myself.

W-pI.150.2. (140) Only salvation can be said to cure.

LESSON 151.

All things are echoes of the Voice for God.

W-pI.151.1. No one can judge on partial evidence. 2 That is not judgment. 3 It is

merely an opinion based on ignorance and doubt. 4 Its seeming certainty is but a cloak for

the uncertainty it would conceal. 5 It needs irrational defense because it is irrational.

6 And its defense seems strong, convincing, and without a doubt because of all the

doubting underneath.

W-pI.151.2. You do not seem to doubt the world you see. 2 You do not really question

what is shown you through the body's eyes. 3 Nor do you ask why you believe it, even though

you learned a long while since your senses do deceive. 4 That you believe them to the

last detail which they report is even stranger, when you pause to recollect how frequently

they have been faulty witnesses indeed! 5 Why would you trust them so implicitly? 6 Why but

because of underlying doubt, which you would hide with show of certainty?

W-pI.151.3. How can you judge? 2 Your judgment rests upon the witness that your senses

offer you. 3 Yet witness never falser was than this. 4 But how else do you judge the world

you see? 5 You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report. 6 You think your

fingers touch reality, and close upon the truth. 7 This is awareness that you understand, and

think more real than what is witnessed to by the eternal Voice for God Himself.

W-pI.151.4. Can this be judgment? 2 You have often been urged to refrain from judging,

not because it is a right to be withheld from you. 3 You cannot judge. 4 You merely can

believe the ego's judgments, all of which are false. 5 It guides your senses carefully, to

prove how weak you are; how helpless and afraid, how apprehensive of just punishment, how

black with sin, how wretched in your guilt.

W-pI.151.5. This thing it speaks of, and would yet defend, it tells you is yourself. 2

And you believe that this is so with stubborn certainty. 3 Yet underneath remains the

hidden doubt that what it shows you as reality with such conviction it does not believe. 4 It

is itself alone that it condemns. 5 It is within itself it sees the guilt. 6 It is its

own despair it sees in you.

W-pI.151.6. Hear not its voice. 2 The witnesses it sends to prove to you its evil is

your own are false, and speak with certainty of what they do not know. 3 Your faith in them

is blind because you would not share the doubts their lord can not completely vanquish.

4 You believe to doubt his vassals is to doubt yourself.

W-pI.151.7. Yet you must learn to doubt their evidence will clear the way to recognize

yourself, and let the Voice for God alone be Judge of what is worthy of your own belief. 2 He

will not tell you that your brother should be judged by what your eyes behold in him, nor

what his body's mouth says to your ears, nor what your fingers' touch reports of him. 3 He

passes by such idle witnesses, which merely bear false witness to God's Son. 4 He recognizes

only what God loves, and in the holy light of what He sees do all the ego's dreams of what

you are vanish before the splendor He beholds.

W-pI.151.8. Let Him be Judge of what you are, for He has certainty in which there is no

doubt, because it rests on Certainty so great that doubt is meaningless before Its face.

2 Christ cannot doubt Himself. 3 The Voice for God can only honor Him, rejoicing in

His perfect, everlasting sinlessness. 4 Whom He has judged can only laugh at guilt,

unwilling now to play with toys of sin; unheeding of the body's witnesses before the rapture of

Christ's holy face.

W-pI.151.9. And thus He judges you. 2 Accept His Word for what you are, for He bears

witness to your beautiful creation, and the Mind Whose Thought created your reality. 3 What

can the body mean to Him Who knows the glory of the Father and the Son? 4 What whispers of

the ego can He hear? 5 What could convince Him that your sins are real? 6 Let Him be

Judge as well of everything that seems to happen to you in this world. 7 His lessons will

enable you to bridge the gap between illusions and the truth.

W-pI.151.10. He will remove all faith that you have placed in pain, disaster, suffering

and loss. 2 He gives you vision which can look beyond these grim appearances, and can

behold the gentle face of Christ in all of them. 3 You will no longer doubt that only good

can come to you who are beloved of God, for He will judge all happenings, and teach the

single lesson that they all contain.

W-pI.151.11. He will select the elements in them which represent the truth, and

disregard those aspects which reflect but idle dreams. 2 And He will reinterpret all you see,

and all occurrences, each circumstance, and every happening that seems to touch on you in

any way from His one frame of reference, wholly unified and sure. 3 And you will see the

love beyond the hate, the constancy in change, the pure in sin, and only Heaven's blessing

on the world.

W-pI.151.12. Such is your resurrection, for your life is not a part of anything you see.

2 It stands beyond the body and the world, past every witness for unholiness, within

the Holy, holy as Itself. 3 In everyone and everything His Voice would speak to you of

nothing but your Self and your Creator, Who is One with Him. 4 So will you see the holy face

of Christ in everything, and hear in everything no sound except the echo of God's Voice.

W-pI.151.13. We practice wordlessly today, except at the beginning of the time we spend

with God. 2 We introduce these times with but a single, slow repeating of the thought

with which the day begins. 3 And then we watch our thoughts, appealing silently to Him Who

sees the elements of truth in them. 4 Let Him evaluate each thought that comes to mind,

remove the elements of dreams, and give them back again as clean ideas that do not contradict

the Will of God.

W-pI.151.14. Give Him your thoughts, and He will give them back as miracles which

joyously proclaim the wholeness and the happiness God wills His Son, as proof of His eternal

Love. 2 And as each thought is thus transformed, it takes on healing power from the Mind

which saw the truth in it, and failed to be deceived by what was falsely added. 3 All the

threads of fantasy are gone. 4 And what remains is unified into a perfect Thought that offers

its perfection everywhere.

W-pI.151.15. Spend fifteen minutes thus when you awake, and gladly give another fifteen

more before you go to sleep. 2 Your ministry begins as all your thoughts are purified.

3 So are you taught to teach the Son of God the holy lesson of his sanctity. 4 No one

can fail to listen, when you hear the Voice for God give honor to God's Son. 5 And

everyone will share the thoughts with you which He has retranslated in your mind.

W-pI.151.16. Such is your Eastertide. 2 And so you lay the gift of snow-white lilies on

the world, replacing witnesses to sin and death. 3 Through your transfiguration is the

world redeemed, and joyfully released from guilt. 4 Now do we lift our resurrected minds in

gladness and in gratitude to Him Who has restored our sanity to us.

W-pI.151.17. And we will hourly remember Him Who is salvation and deliverance. 2 As we

give thanks, the world unites with us and happily accepts our holy thoughts, which Heaven

has corrected and made pure. 3 Now has our ministry begun at last, to carry round the

world the joyous news that truth has no illusions, and the peace of God, through us, belongs

to everyone.

LESSON 152.

The power of decision is my own.

W-pI.152.1. No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision. 2 No one suffers pain

except his choice elects this state for him. 3 No one can grieve nor fear nor think him

sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants. 4 And no one dies without his own

consent. 5 Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose. 6

Here is your world, complete in all details. 7 Here is its whole reality for you. 8 And it

is only here salvation is.

W-pI.152.2. You may believe that this position is extreme, and too inclusive to be true.

2 Yet can truth have exceptions? 3 If you have the gift of everything, can loss be

real? 4 Can pain be part of peace, or grief of joy? 5 Can fear and sickness enter in a mind

where love and perfect holiness abide? 6 Truth must be all-inclusive, if it be the

truth at all. 7 Accept no opposites and no exceptions, for to do so is to contradict the

truth entirely.

W-pI.152.3. Salvation is the recognition that the truth is true, and nothing else is

true. 2 This you have heard before, but may not yet accept both parts of it. 3 Without the

first, the second has no meaning. 4 But without the second, is the first no longer true. 5

Truth cannot have an opposite. 6 This can not be too often said and thought about. 7 For if

what is not true is true as well as what is true, then part of truth is false. 8 And truth

has lost its meaning. 9 Nothing but the truth is true, and what is false is false.

W-pI.152.4. This is the simplest of distinctions, yet the most obscure. 2 But not

because it is a difficult distinction to perceive. 3 It is concealed behind a vast array of

choices that do not appear to be entirely your own. 4 And thus the truth appears to have some

aspects that belie consistency, but do not seem to be but contradictions introduced by you.

W-pI.152.5. As God created you, you must remain unchangeable, with transitory states by

definition false. 2 And that includes all shifts in feeling, alterations in conditions

of the body and the mind; in all awareness and in all response. 3 This is the

all-inclusiveness which sets the truth apart from falsehood, and the false kept separate from the truth,

as what it is.

W-pI.152.6. Is it not strange that you believe to think you made the world you see is

arrogance? 2 God made it not. 3 Of this you can be sure. 4 What can He know of the ephemeral,

the sinful and the guilty, the afraid, the suffering and lonely, and the mind that lives

within a body that must die? 5 You but accuse Him of insanity, to think He made a world where

such things seem to have reality. 6 He is not mad. 7 Yet only madness makes a world

like this.

W-pI.152.7. To think that God made chaos, contradicts His Will, invented opposites to

truth, and suffers death to triumph over life; all this is arrogance. 2 Humility would see

at once these things are not of Him. 3 And can you see what God created not? 4 To think

you can is merely to believe you can perceive what God willed not to be. 5 And what could

be more arrogant than this?

W-pI.152.8. Let us today be truly humble, and accept what we have made as what it is. 2

The power of decision is our own. 3 Decide but to accept your rightful place as

co-creator of the universe, and all you think you made will disappear. 4 What rises to awareness

then will be all that there ever was, eternally as it is now. 5 And it will take the place

of self-deceptions made but to usurp the altar to the Father and the Son.

W-pI.152.9. Today we practice true humility, abandoning the false pretense by which the

ego seeks to prove it arrogant. 2 Only the ego can be arrogant. 3 But truth is humble

in acknowledging its mightiness, its changelessness and its eternal wholeness,

all-encompassing, God's perfect gift to His beloved Son. 4 We lay aside the arrogance which says that

we are sinners, guilty and afraid, ashamed of what we are; and lift our hearts in true

humility instead to Him Who has created us immaculate, like to Himself in power and in love.

W-pI.152.10. The power of decision is our own. 2 And we accept of Him that which we are,

and humbly recognize the Son of God. 3 To recognize God's Son implies as well that all

self-concepts have been laid aside, and recognized as false. 4 Their arrogance has been

perceived. 5 And in humility the radiance of God's Son, his gentleness, his perfect

sinlessness, his Father's Love, his right to Heaven and release from hell, are joyously accepted

as our own.

W-pI.152.11. Now do we join in glad acknowledgment that lies are false, and only truth

is true. 2 We think of truth alone as we arise, and spend five minutes practicing its

ways, encouraging our frightened minds with this:

3 The power of decision is my own. 4 This day I will accept myself as what my Father's

Will created me to be.

5 Then will we wait in silence, giving up all self-deceptions, as we humbly ask our

Self that He reveal Himself to us. 6 And He Who never left will come again to our awareness,

grateful to restore His home to God, as it was meant to be.

W-pI.152.12. In patience wait for Him throughout the day, and hourly invite Him with

the words with which the day began, concluding it with this same invitation to your Self.

2 God's Voice will answer, for He speaks for you and for your Father. 3 He will

substitute the peace of God for all your frantic thoughts, the truth of God for self-deceptions,

and God's Son for your illusions of yourself.

LESSON 153.

In my defenselessness my safety lies.

W-pI.153.1. You who feel threatened by this changing world, its twists of fortune and

its bitter jests, its brief relationships and all the "gifts" it merely lends to take away

again; attend this lesson well. 2 The world provides no safety. 3 It is rooted in

attack, and all its "gifts" of seeming safety are illusory deceptions. 4 It attacks, and then

attacks again. 5 No peace of mind is possible where danger threatens thus.

W-pI.153.2. The world gives rise but to defensiveness. 2 For threat brings anger, anger

makes attack seem reasonable, honestly provoked, and righteous in the name of

self-defense. 3 Yet is defensiveness a double threat. 4 For it attests to weakness, and sets up a

system of defense that cannot work. 5 Now are the weak still further undermined, for there is

treachery without and still a greater treachery within. 6 The mind is now confused, and

knows not where to turn to find escape from its imaginings.

W-pI.153.3. It is as if a circle held it fast, wherein another circle bound it and

another one in that, until escape no longer can be hoped for nor obtained. 2 Attack, defense;

defense, attack, become the circles of the hours and the days that bind the mind in heavy

bands of steel with iron overlaid, returning but to start again. 3 There seems to be no

break nor ending in the ever-tightening grip of the imprisonment upon the mind.

W-pI.153.4. Defenses are the costliest of all the prices which the ego would exact. 2

In them lies madness in a form so grim that hope of sanity seems but to be an idle dream,

beyond the possible. 3 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.

W-pI.153.5. You are its slave. 2 You know not what you do, in fear of it. 3 You do not

understand how much you have been made to sacrifice, who feel its iron grip upon your heart. 4

You do not realize what you have done to sabotage the holy peace of God by your

defensiveness. 5 For you behold the Son of God as but a victim to attack by fantasies, by dreams,

and by illusions he has made; yet helpless in their presence, needful only of defense by

still more fantasies, and dreams by which illusions of his safety comfort him.

W-pI.153.6. Defenselessness is strength. 2 It testifies to recognition of the Christ in

you. 3 Perhaps you will recall the text maintains that choice is always made between

Christ's strength and your own weakness, seen apart from Him. 4 Defenselessness can never be

attacked, because it recognizes strength so great attack is folly, or a silly game a tired

child might play, when he becomes too sleepy to remember what he wants.

W-pI.153.7. Defensiveness is weakness. 2 It proclaims you have denied the Christ and

come to fear His Father's anger. 3 What can save you now from your delusion of an angry god,

whose fearful image you believe you see at work in all the evils of the world? 4 What

but illusions could defend you now, when it is but illusions that you fight?

W-pI.153.8. We will not play such childish games today. 2 For our true purpose is to

save the world, and we would not exchange for foolishness the endless joy our function

offers us. 3 We would not let our happiness slip by because a fragment of a senseless dream

happened to cross our minds, and we mistook the figures in it for the Son of God; its tiny

instant for eternity.

W-pI.153.9. We look past dreams today, and recognize that we need no defense because we

are created unassailable, without all thought or wish or dream in which attack has any

meaning. 2 Now we cannot fear, for we have left all fearful thoughts behind. 3 And in

defenselessness we stand secure, serenely certain of our safety now, sure of salvation; sure we will

fulfill our chosen purpose, as our ministry extends its holy blessing through the world.

W-pI.153.10. Be still a moment, and in silence think how holy is your purpose, how

secure you rest, untouchable within its light. 2 God's ministers have chosen that the truth

be with them. 3 Who is holier than they? 4 Who could be surer that his happiness is fully

guaranteed? 5 And who could be more mightily protected? 6 What defense could possibly

be needed by the ones who are among the chosen ones of God, by His election and their own

as well?

W-pI.153.11. It is the function of God's ministers to help their brothers choose as

they have done. 2 God has elected all, but few have come to realize His Will is but their

own. 3 And while you fail to teach what you have learned, salvation waits and darkness

holds the world in grim imprisonment. 4 Nor will you learn that light has come to you, and

your escape has been accomplished. 5 For you will not see the light, until you offer it to

all your brothers. 6 As they take it from your hands, so will you recognize it as your own.

W-pI.153.12. Salvation can be thought of as a game that happy children play. 2 It was

games, which teach them that the game of fear is gone. 3 His game instructs in happiness

because there is no loser. 4 Everyone who plays must win, and in his winning is the gain to

everyone ensured. 5 The game of fear is gladly laid aside, when children come to see the

benefits salvation brings.

W-pI.153.13. You who have played that you are lost to hope, abandoned by your Father,

left alone in terror in a fearful world made mad by sin and guilt; be happy now. 2 That

game is over. 3 Now a quiet time has come, in which we put away the toys of guilt, and lock

our quaint and childish thoughts of sin forever from the pure and holy minds of

Heaven's children and the Son of God.

W-pI.153.14. We pause but for a moment more, to play our final, happy game upon this

earth. 2 And then we go to take our rightful place where truth abides and games are

meaningless. 3 So is the story ended. 4 Let this day bring the last chapter closer to the world,

that everyone may learn the tale he reads of terrifying destiny, defeat of all his hopes,

his pitiful defense against a vengeance he can not escape, is but his own deluded fantasy.

5 God's ministers have come to waken him from the dark dreams this story has evoked in

his confused, bewildered memory of this distorted tale. 6 God's Son can smile at last, on

learning that it is not true.

W-pI.153.15. Today we practice in a form we will maintain for quite a while. 2 We will

begin each day by giving our attention to the daily thought as long as possible. 3 Five

minutes now becomes the least we give to preparation for a day in which salvation is the only

goal we have. 4 Ten would be better; fifteen better still. 5 And as distraction ceases to

arise to turn us from our purpose, we will find that half an hour is too short a time to

spend with God. 6 Nor will we willingly give less at night, in gratitude and joy.

W-pI.153.16. Each hour adds to our increasing peace, as we remember to be faithful to

the Will we share with God. 2 At times, perhaps, a minute, even less, will be the most

that we can offer as the hour strikes. 3 Sometimes we will forget. 4 At other times the

business of the world will close on us, and we will be unable to withdraw a little while, and

turn our thoughts to God.

W-pI.153.17. Yet when we can, we will observe our trust as ministers of God, in hourly

remembrance of our mission and His Love. 2 And we will quietly sit by and wait on Him and listen

to His Voice, and learn what He would have us do the hour that is yet to come; while

thanking Him for all the gifts He gave us in the one gone by.

W-pI.153.18. In time, with practice, you will never cease to think of Him, and hear His

loving Voice guiding your footsteps into quiet ways, where you will walk in true

defenselessness. 2 For you will know that Heaven goes with you. 3 Nor would you keep your mind away

from Him a moment, even though your time is spent in offering salvation to the world. 4

Think you He will not make this possible, for you who chose to carry out His plan for the

salvation of the world and yours?

W-pI.153.19. Today our theme is our defenselessness. 2 We clothe ourselves in it, as we

prepare to meet the day. 3 We rise up strong in Christ, and let our weakness disappear,

as we remember that His strength abides in us. 4 We will remind ourselves that He

remains beside us through the day, and never leaves our weakness unsupported by His strength.

5 We call upon His strength each time we feel the threat of our defenses undermine our

certainty of purpose. 6 We will pause a moment, as He tells us, "I am here."

W-pI.153.20. Your practicing will now begin to take the earnestness of love, to help

you keep your mind from wandering from its intent. 2 Be not afraid nor timid. 3 There can

be no doubt that you will reach your final goal. 4 The ministers of God can never fail,

because the love and strength and peace that shine from them to all their brothers come from

Him. 5 These are His gifts to you. 6 Defenselessness is all you need to give Him in return.

7 You lay aside but what was never real, to look on Christ and see His sinlessness.

LESSON 154.

I am among the ministers of God.

W-pI.154.1. Let us today be neither arrogant nor falsely humble. 2 We have gone beyond

such foolishness. 3 We cannot judge ourselves, nor need we do so. 4 These are but attempts

to hold decision off, and to delay commitment to our function. 5 It is not our part to

judge our worth, nor can we know what role is best for us; what we can do within a larger

plan we cannot see in its entirety. 6 Our part is cast in Heaven, not in hell. 7 And what

we think is weakness can be strength; what we believe to be our strength is often

arrogance.

W-pI.154.2. Whatever your appointed role may be, it was selected by the Voice for God,

Whose function is to speak for you as well. 2 Seeing your strengths exactly as they are, and

equally aware of where they can be best applied, for what, to whom and when, He chooses

and accepts your part for you. 3 He does not work without your own consent. 4 But He is

not deceived in what you are, and listens only to His Voice in you.

W-pI.154.3. It is through His ability to hear one Voice which is His Own that you

become aware at last there is one Voice in you. 2 And that one Voice appoints your function,

and relays it to you, giving you the strength to understand it, do what it entails, and to

succeed in everything you do that is related to it. 3 God has joined His Son in this,

and thus His Son becomes His messenger of unity with Him.

W-pI.154.4. It is this joining, through the Voice for God, of Father and of Son, that

sets apart salvation from the world. 2 It is this Voice which speaks of laws the world does

not obey; which promises salvation from all sin, with guilt abolished in the mind that

God created sinless. 3 Now this mind becomes aware again of Who created it, and of His

lasting union with itself. 4 So is its Self the one reality in which its will and that of God

are joined.

W-pI.154.5. A messenger is not the one who writes the message he delivers. 2 Nor does

he question the right of him who does, nor ask why he has chosen those who will receive

the message that he brings. 3 It is enough that he accept it, give it to the ones for whom

it is intended, and fulfill his role in its delivery. 4 If he determines what the

messages should be, or what their purpose is, or where they should be carried, he is failing to

perform his proper part as bringer of the Word.

W-pI.154.6. There is one major difference in the role of Heaven's messengers, which

sets them off from those the world appoints. 2 The messages that they deliver are intended

first for them. 3 And it is only as they can accept them for themselves that they become

able to bring them further, and to give them everywhere that they were meant to be. 4 Like

earthly messengers, they did not write the messages they bear, but they become their first

receivers in the truest sense, receiving to prepare themselves to give.

W-pI.154.7. An earthly messenger fulfills his role by giving all his messages away. 2

The messengers of God perform their part by their acceptance of His messages as for

themselves, and show they understand the messages by giving them away. 3 They choose no roles

that are not given them by His authority. 4 And so they gain by every message that they

give away.

W-pI.154.8. Would you receive the messages of God? 2 For thus do you become His

messenger. 3 You are appointed now. 4 And yet you wait to give the messages you have received. 5

And so you do not know that they are yours, and do not recognize them. 6 No one can

receive and understand he has received until he gives. 7 For in the giving is his own

acceptance of what he received.

W-pI.154.9. You who are now the messenger of God, receive His messages. 2 For that is

part of your appointed role. 3 God has not failed to offer what you need, nor has it been

left unaccepted. 4 Yet another part of your appointed task is yet to be accomplished. 5 He

Who has received for you the messages of God would have them be received by you as well. 6

For thus do you identify with Him and claim your own.

W-pI.154.10. It is this joining that we undertake to recognize today. 2 We will not

seek to keep our minds apart from Him Who speaks for us, for it is but our voice we hear as

we attend Him. 3 He alone can speak to us and for us, joining in one Voice the getting

and the giving of God's Word; the giving and receiving of His Will.

W-pI.154.11. We practice giving Him what He would have, that we may recognize His gifts

to us. 2 He needs our voice that He may speak through us. 3 He needs our hands to hold

His messages, and carry them to those whom He appoints. 4 He needs our feet to bring us

where He wills, that those who wait in misery may be at last delivered. 5 And He needs our

will united with His Own, that we may be the true receivers of the gifts He gives.

W-pI.154.12. Let us but learn this lesson for today: We will not recognize what we

receive until we give it. 2 You have heard this said a hundred ways, a hundred times, and yet

belief is lacking still. 3 But this is sure; until belief is given it, you will receive a

thousand miracles and then receive a thousand more, but will not know that God Himself has left

no gift beyond what you already have; nor has denied the tiniest of blessings to His

Son. 4 What can this mean to you, until you have identified with Him and with His Own?

W-pI.154.13. Our lesson for today is stated thus:

2 I am among the ministers of God, and I am grateful that I have the means by which to

recognize that I am free.

W-pI.154.14. The world recedes as we light up our minds, and realize these holy words

are true. 2 They are the message sent to us today from our Creator. 3 Now we demonstrate

how they have changed our minds about ourselves, and what our function is. 4 For as we

prove that we accept no will we do not share, our many gifts from our Creator will spring to

our sight and leap into our hands, and we will recognize what we received.

LESSON 155.

I will step back and let Him lead the way.

W-pI.155.1. There is a way of living in the world that is not here, although it seems

to be. 2 You do not change appearance, though you smile more frequently. 3 Your forehead

is serene; your eyes are quiet. 4 And the ones who walk the world as you do recognize

their own. 5 Yet those who have not yet perceived the way will recognize you also, and

believe that you are like them, as you were before.

W-pI.155.2. The world is an illusion. 2 Those who choose to come to it are seeking for

a place where they can be illusions, and avoid their own reality. 3 Yet when they find

their own reality is even here, then they step back and let it lead the way. 4 What other

choice is really theirs to make? 5 To let illusions walk ahead of truth is madness. 6 But to

let illusion sink behind the truth and let the truth stand forth as what it is, is merely

sanity.

W-pI.155.3. This is the simple choice we make today. 2 The mad illusion will remain

awhile in evidence, for those to look upon who chose to come, and have not yet rejoiced to

find they were mistaken in their choice. 3 They cannot learn directly from the truth,

because they have denied that it is so. 4 And so they need a Teacher Who perceives their

madness, but Who still can look beyond illusion to the simple truth in them.

W-pI.155.4. If truth demanded they give up the world, it would appear to them as if it

asked the sacrifice of something that is real. 2 Many have chosen to renounce the world

while still believing its reality. 3 And they have suffered from a sense of loss, and have

not been released accordingly. 4 Others have chosen nothing but the world, and they have

suffered from a sense of loss still deeper, which they did not understand.

W-pI.155.5. Between these paths there is another road that leads away from loss of

every kind, for sacrifice and deprivation both are quickly left behind. 2 This is the way

appointed for you now. 3 You walk this path as others walk, nor do you seem to be distinct from

them, although you are indeed. 4 Thus can you serve them while you serve yourself, and set

their footsteps on the way that God has opened up to you, and them through you.

W-pI.155.6. Illusion still appears to cling to you, that you may reach them. 2 Yet it

has stepped back. 3 And it is not illusion that they hear you speak of, nor illusion that

you bring their eyes to look on and their minds to grasp. 4 Nor can the truth, which walks

ahead of you, speak to them through illusions, for the road leads past illusion now,

while on the way you call to them, that they may follow you.

W-pI.155.7. All roads will lead to this one in the end. 2 For sacrifice and deprivation

are paths that lead nowhere, choices for defeat, and aims that will remain impossible.

3 All this steps back as truth comes forth in you, to lead your brothers from the ways

of death, and set them on the way to happiness. 4 Their suffering is but illusion. 5 Yet

they need a guide to lead them out of it, for they mistake illusion for the truth.

W-pI.155.8. Such is salvation's call, and nothing more. 2 It asks that you accept the

truth, and let it go before you, lighting up the path of ransom from illusion. 3 It is not a

ransom with a price. 4 There is no cost, but only gain. 5 Illusion can but seem to hold

in chains the holy Son of God. 6 It is but from illusions he is saved. 7 As they step

back, he finds himself again.

W-pI.155.9. Walk safely now, yet carefully, because this path is new to you. 2 And you

may find that you are tempted still to walk ahead of truth, and let illusions be your

guide. 3 Your holy brothers have been given you, to follow in your footsteps as you walk

with certainty of purpose to the truth. 4 It goes before you now, that they may see

something with which they can identify; something they understand to lead the way.

W-pI.155.10. Yet at the journey's ending there will be no gap, no distance between

truth and you. 2 And all illusions walking in the way you travelled will be gone from you as

well, with nothing left to keep the truth apart from God's completion, holy as Himself.

3 Step back in faith and let truth lead the way. 4 You know not where you go. 5 But One

Who knows goes with you. 6 Let Him lead you with the rest.

W-pI.155.11. When dreams are over, time has closed the door on all the things that pass

and miracles are purposeless, the holy Son of God will make no journeys. 2 There will

be no wish to be illusion rather than the truth. 3 And we step forth toward this, as we

progress along the way that truth points out to us. 4 This is our final journey, which we make

for everyone. 5 We must not lose our way. 6 For as truth goes before us, so it goes before

our brothers who will follow us.

W-pI.155.12. We walk to God. 2 Pause and reflect on this. 3 Could any way be holier, or

more deserving of your effort, of your love and of your full intent? 4 What way could

give you more than everything, or offer less and still content the holy Son of God? 5 We

walk to God. 6 The truth that walks before us now is one with Him, and leads us to where He

has always been. 7 What way but this could be a path that you would choose instead?

W-pI.155.13. Your feet are safely set upon the road that leads the world to God. 2 Look

not to ways that seem to lead you elsewhere. 3 Dreams are not a worthy guide for you

who are God's Son. 4 Forget not He has placed His Hand in yours, and given you your

brothers in His trust that you are worthy of His trust in you. 5 He cannot be deceived. 6 His

trust has made your pathway certain and your goal secure. 7 You will not fail your brothers

nor your Self.

W-pI.155.14. And now He asks but that you think of Him a while each day, that He may

speak to you and tell you of His Love, reminding you how great His trust; how limitless His

Love. 2 In your Name and His Own, which are the same, we practice gladly with this thought

today:

3 I will step back and let Him lead the way, For I would walk along the road to Him.

LESSON 156.

I walk with God in perfect holiness.

W-pI.156.1. Today's idea but states the simple truth that makes the thought of sin

impossible. 2 It promises there is no cause for guilt, and being causeless it does not exist. 3

It follows surely from the basic thought so often mentioned in the text; ideas leave not

their source. 4 If this be true, how can you be apart from God? 5 How could you walk the

world alone and separate from your Source?

W-pI.156.2. We are not inconsistent in the thoughts that we present in our curriculum.

2 Truth must be true throughout, if it be true. 3 It cannot contradict itself, nor be in

parts uncertain and in others sure. 4 You cannot walk the world apart from God, because

you could not be without Him. 5 He is what your life is. 6 Where you are He is. 7 There

is one life. 8 That life you share with Him. 9 Nothing can be apart from Him and live.

W-pI.156.3. Yet where He is, there must be holiness as well as life. 2 No attribute of

His remains unshared by everything that lives. 3 What lives is holy as Himself, because

what shares His life is part of Holiness, and could no more be sinful than the sun could

choose to be of ice; the sea elect to be apart from water, or the grass to grow with roots

suspended in the air.

W-pI.156.4. There is a light in you which cannot die; whose presence is so holy that

the world is sanctified because of you. 2 All things that live bring gifts to you, and

offer them in gratitude and gladness at your feet. 3 The scent of flowers is their gift to

you. 4 The waves bow down before you, and the trees extend their arms to shield you from

the heat, and lay their leaves before you on the ground that you may walk in softness,

while the wind sinks to a whisper round your holy head.

W-pI.156.5. The light in you is what the universe longs to behold. 2 All living things

are still before you, for they recognize Who walks with you. 3 The light you carry is

their own. 4 And thus they see in you their holiness, saluting you as savior and as God. 5

Accept their reverence, for it is due to Holiness Itself, which walks with you, transforming

in Its gentle light all things unto Its likeness and Its purity.

W-pI.156.6. This is the way salvation works. 2 As you step back, the light in you steps

forward and encompasses the world. 3 It heralds not the end of sin in punishment and

death. 4 In lightness and in laughter is sin gone, because its quaint absurdity is seen. 5

It is a foolish thought, a silly dream, not frightening, ridiculous perhaps, but who

would waste an instant in approach to God Himself for such a senseless whim?

W-pI.156.7. Yet you have wasted many, many years on just this foolish thought. 2 The

past is gone, with all its fantasies. 3 They keep you bound no longer. 4 The approach to

God is near. 5 And in the little interval of doubt that still remains, you may perhaps

lose sight of your Companion, and mistake Him for the senseless, ancient dream that now is

past.

W-pI.156.8. "Who walks with me?" 2 This question should be asked a thousand times a day,

till certainty has ended doubting and established peace. 3 Today let doubting cease. 4

God speaks for you in answering your question with these words:

5 I walk with God in perfect holiness. 6 I light the world, I light my mind and all the

minds which God created one with me.

LESSON 157.

Into His Presence would I enter now.

W-pI.157.1. This is a day of silence and of trust. 2 It is a special time of promise in

your calendar of days. 3 It is a time Heaven has set apart to shine upon, and cast a

timeless light upon this day, when echoes of eternity are heard. 4 This day is holy, for it

ushers in a new experience; a different kind of feeling and awareness. 5 You have spent long

days and nights in celebrating death. 6 Today you learn to feel the joy of life.

W-pI.157.2. This is another crucial turning point in the curriculum. 2 We add a new

dimension now; a fresh experience that sheds a light on all that we have learned already, and

prepares us for what we have yet to learn. 3 It brings us to the door where learning ceases,

and we catch a glimpse of what lies past the highest reaches it can possibly attain. 4 It

leaves us here an instant, and we go beyond it, sure of our direction and our only goal.

W-pI.157.3. Today it will be given you to feel a touch of Heaven, though you will

return to paths of learning. 2 Yet you have come far enough along the way to alter time

sufficiently to rise above its laws, and walk into eternity a while. 3 This you will learn to do

increasingly, as every lesson, faithfully rehearsed, brings you more swiftly to this holy place and

leaves you, for a moment, to your Self.

W-pI.157.4. He will direct your practicing today, for what you ask for now is what He

wills. 2 And having joined your will with His this day, what you are asking must be given

you. 3 Nothing is needed but today's idea to light your mind, and let it rest in still

anticipation and in quiet joy, wherein you quickly leave the world behind.

W-pI.157.5. From this day forth, your ministry takes on a genuine devotion, and a glow

that travels from your fingertips to those you touch, and blesses those you look upon. 2 A

vision reaches everyone you meet, and everyone you think of, or who thinks of you. 3 For your

experience today will so transform your mind that it becomes the touchstone for the

holy Thoughts of God.

W-pI.157.6. Your body will be sanctified today, its only purpose being now to bring the

vision of what you experience this day to light the world. 2 We cannot give experience

like this directly. 3 Yet it leaves a vision in our eyes which we can offer everyone, that

he may come the sooner to the same experience in which the world is quietly forgot, and

Heaven is remembered for a while.

W-pI.157.7. As this experience increases and all goals but this become of little worth,

the world to which you will return becomes a little closer to the end of time; a little

more like Heaven in its ways; a little nearer its deliverance. 2 And you who bring it

light will come to see the light more sure; the vision more distinct. 3 The time will come

when you will not return in the same form in which you now appear, for you will have no

need of it. 4 Yet now it has a purpose, and will serve it well.

W-pI.157.8. Today we will embark upon a course you have not dreamed of. 2 But the Holy

One, the Giver of the happy dreams of life, Translator of perception into truth, the holy

Guide to Heaven given you, has dreamed for you this journey which you make and start today,

with the experience this day holds out to you to be your own.

W-pI.157.9. Into Christ's Presence will we enter now, serenely unaware of everything

except His shining face and perfect Love. 2 The vision of His face will stay with you, but

there will be an instant which transcends all vision, even this, the holiest. 3 This you

will never teach, for you attained it not through learning. 4 Yet the vision speaks of your

rememberance of what you knew that instant, and will surely know again.

LESSON 158.

Today I learn to give as I receive.

W-pI.158.1. What has been given you? 2 The knowledge that you are a mind, in Mind and

purely mind, sinless forever, wholly unafraid, because you were created out of love. 3 Nor

have you left your Source, remaining as you were created. 4 This was given you as knowledge

which you cannot lose. 5 It was given as well to every living thing, for by that

knowledge only does it live.

W-pI.158.2. You have received all this. 2 No one who walks the world but has received

it. 3 It is not this knowledge which you give, for that is what creation gave. 4 All this

cannot be learned. 5 What, then, are you to learn to give today? 6 Our lesson yesterday

evoked a theme found early in the text. 7 Experience cannot be shared directly, in the

way that vision can. 8 The revelation that the Father and the Son are one will come in

time to every mind. 9 Yet is that time determined by the mind itself, not taught.

W-pI.158.3. The time is set already. 2 It appears to be quite arbitrary. 3 Yet there is

no step along the road that anyone takes but by chance. 4 It has already been taken by

him, although he has not yet embarked on it. 5 For time but seems to go in one direction.

6 We but undertake a journey that is over. 7 Yet it seems to have a future still unknown

to us.

W-pI.158.4. Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come

and go as if by magic. 2 Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. 3

The script is written. 4 When experience will come to end your doubting has been set. 5

For we but see the journey from the point at which it ended, looking back on it, imagining

we make it once again; reviewing mentally what has gone by.

W-pI.158.5. A teacher does not give experience, because he did not learn it. 2 It

revealed itself to him at its appointed time. 3 But vision is his gift. 4 This he can give

directly, for Christ's knowledge is not lost, because He has a vision He can give to anyone who

asks. 5 The Father's Will and His are joined in knowledge. 6 Yet there is a vision

which the Holy Spirit sees because the Mind of Christ beholds it too.

W-pI.158.6. Here is the joining of the world of doubt and shadows made with the

intangible. 2 Here is a quiet place within the world made holy by forgiveness and by love. 3 Here

are all contradictions reconciled, for here the journey ends. 4 Experience--unlearned,

untaught, unseen--is merely there. 5 This is beyond our goal, for it transcends what needs to

be accomplished. 6 Our concern is with Christ's vision. 7 This we can attain.

W-pI.158.7. Christ's vision has one law. 2 It does not look upon a body, and mistake it

for the Son whom God created. 3 It beholds a light beyond the body; an idea beyond what

can be touched, a purity undimmed by errors, pitiful mistakes, and fearful thoughts of

guilt from dreams of sin. 4 It sees no separation. 5 And it looks on everyone, on every

circumstance, all happenings and all events, without the slightest fading of the light it sees.

W-pI.158.8. This can be taught; and must be taught by all who would achieve it. 2 It

requires but the recognition that the world can not give anything that faintly can compare with

this in value; nor set up a goal that does not merely disappear when this has been

perceived. 3 And this you give today: See no one as a body. 4 Greet him as the Son of God he is,

acknowledging that he is one with you in holiness.

W-pI.158.9. Thus are his sins forgiven him, for Christ has vision that has power to

overlook them all. 2 In His forgiveness are they gone. 3 Unseen by One they merely disappear,

because a vision of the holiness that lies beyond them comes to take their place. 4 It matters

not what form they took, nor how enormous they appeared to be, nor who seemed to be

hurt by them. 5 They are no more. 6 And all effects they seemed to have are gone with them,

undone and never to be done.

W-pI.158.10. Thus do you learn to give as you receive. 2 And thus Christ's vision looks

on you as well. 3 This lesson is not difficult to learn, if you remember in your

brother you but see yourself. 4 If he be lost in sin, so must you be; if you see light in him,

your sins have been forgiven by yourself. 5 Each brother whom you meet today provides

another chance to let Christ's vision shine on you, and offer you the peace of God.

W-pI.158.11. It matters not when revelation comes, for that is not of time. 2 Yet time

has still one gift to give, in which true knowledge is reflected in a way so accurate its

image shares its unseen holiness; its likeness shines with its immortal love. 3 We practice

seeing with the eyes of Christ today. 4 And by the holy gifts we give, Christ's vision looks

upon ourselves as well.

LESSON 159.

I give the miracles I have received.

W-pI.159.1. No one can give what he has not received. 2 To give a thing requires first

you have it in your own possession. 3 Here the laws of Heaven and the world agree. 4 But

here they also separate. 5 The world believes that to possess a thing, it must be kept. 6

Salvation teaches otherwise. 7 To give is how to recognize you have received. 8 It is the proof

that what you have is yours.

W-pI.159.2. You understand that you are healed when you give healing. 2 You accept

forgiveness as accomplished in yourself when you forgive. 3 You recognize your brother as yourself,

and thus do you perceive that you are whole. 4 There is no miracle you cannot give,

for all are given you. 5 Receive them now by opening the storehouse of your mind where

they are laid, and giving them away.

W-pI.159.3. Christ's vision is a miracle. 2 It comes from far beyond itself, for it

reflects eternal love and the rebirth of love which never dies, but has been kept obscure. 3

Christ's vision pictures Heaven, for it sees a world so like to Heaven that what God created

perfect can be mirrored there. 4 The darkened glass the world presents can show but twisted

images in broken parts. 5 The real world pictures Heaven's innocence.

W-pI.159.4. Christ's vision is the miracle in which all miracles are born. 2 It is

their source, remaining with each miracle you give, and yet remaining yours. 3 It is the

bond by which the giver and receiver are united in extension here on earth, as they are one

in Heaven. 4 Christ beholds no sin in anyone. 5 And in His sight the sinless are as one.

6 Their holiness was given by His Father and Himself.

W-pI.159.5. Christ's vision is the bridge between the worlds. 2 And in its power can

you safely trust to carry you from this world into one made holy by forgiveness. 3 Things

which seem quite solid here are merely shadows there; transparent, faintly seen, at times

forgot, and never able to obscure the light that shines beyond them. 4 Holiness has been

restored to vision, and the blind can see.

W-pI.159.6. This is the Holy Spirit's single gift; the treasure house to which you can

appeal with perfect certainty for all the things that can contribute to your happiness. 2 All

are laid here already. 3 All can be received but for the asking. 4 Here the door is

never locked, and no one is denied his least request or his most urgent need. 5 There is no

sickness not already healed, no lack unsatisfied, no need unmet within this golden treasury of

Christ.

W-pI.159.7. Here does the world remember what was lost when it was made. 2 For here it

is repaired, made new again, but in a different light. 3 What was to be the home of sin

becomes the center of redemption and the hearth of mercy, where the suffering are healed and

welcome. 4 No one will be turned away from this new home, where his salvation waits. 5 No one

is stranger to him. 6 No one asks for anything of him except the gift of his acceptance

of his welcoming.

W-pI.159.8. Christ's vision is the holy ground in which the lilies of forgiveness set

their roots. 2 This is their home. 3 They can be brought from here back to the world, but

they can never grow in its unnourishing and shallow soil. 4 They need the light and warmth

and kindly care Christ's charity provides. 5 They need the love with which He looks on

them. 6 And they become His messengers, who give as they received.

W-pI.159.9. Take from His storehouse, that its treasures may increase. 2 His lilies do

not leave their home when they are carried back into the world. 3 Their roots remain. 4

They do not leave their source, but carry its beneficence with them, and turn the world

into a garden like the one they came from, and to which they go again with added fragrance.

5 Now are they twice blessed. 6 The messages they brought from Christ have been

delivered, and returned to them. 7 And they return them gladly unto Him.

W-pI.159.10. Behold the store of miracles set out for you to give. 2 Are you not worth

the gift, when God appointed it be given you? 3 Judge not God's Son, but follow in the way

He has established. 4 Christ has dreamed the dream of a forgiven world. 5 It is His

gift, whereby a sweet transition can be made from death to life; from hopelessness to hope.

6 Let us an instant dream with Him. 7 His dream awakens us to truth. 8 His vision gives

the means for a return to our unlost and everlasting sanctity in God.

LESSON 160.

I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.

W-pI.160.1. Fear is a stranger to the ways of love. 2 Identify with fear, and you will

be a stranger to yourself. 3 And thus you are unknown to you. 4 What is your Self remains

an alien to the part of you which thinks that it is real, but different from yourself.

5 Who could be sane in such a circumstance? 6 Who but a madman could believe he is what

he is not, and judge against himself?

W-pI.160.2. There is a stranger in our midst, who comes from an idea so foreign to the

truth he speaks a different language, looks upon a world truth does not know, and

understands what truth regards as senseless. 2 Stranger yet, he does not recognize to whom he

comes, and yet maintains his home belongs to him, while he is alien now who is at home. 3

And yet, how easy it would be to say, "This is my home. 4 Here I belong, and will not

leave because a madman says I must."

W-pI.160.3. What reason is there for not saying this? 2 What could the reason be except

that you had asked this stranger in to take your place, and let you be a stranger to

yourself? 3 No one would let himself be dispossessed so needlessly, unless he thought there

were another home more suited to his tastes.

W-pI.160.4. Who is the stranger? 2 Is it fear or you who are unsuited to the home which

God provided for His Son? 3 Is fear His Own, created in His likeness? 4 Is it fear that

love completes, and is completed by? 5 There is no home can shelter love and fear. 6

They cannot coexist. 7 If you are real, then fear must be illusion. 8 And if fear is real,

then you do not exist at all.

W-pI.160.5. How simply, then, the question is resolved. 2 Who fears has but denied

himself and said, "I am the stranger here. 3 And so I leave my home to one more like me than

myself, and give him all I thought belonged to me." 4 Now is he exiled of necessity, not

knowing who he is, uncertain of all things but this; that he is not himself, and that his home

has been denied to him.

W-pI.160.6. What does he search for now? 2 What can he find? 3 A stranger to himself

can find no home wherever he may look, for he has made return impossible. 4 His way is

lost, except a miracle will search him out and show him that he is no stranger now. 5 The

miracle will come. 6 For in his home his Self remains. 7 It asked no stranger in, and took no

alien thought to be Itself. 8 And It will call Its Own unto Itself in recognition of what is

Its Own.

W-pI.160.7. Who is the stranger? 2 Is he not the one your Self calls not? 3 You are

unable now to recognize this stranger in your midst, for you have given him your rightful

place. 4 Yet is your Self as certain of Its Own as God is of His Son. 5 He cannot be

confused about creation. 6 He is sure of what belongs to Him. 7 No stranger can be interposed

between His knowledge and His Son's reality. 8 He does not know of strangers. 9 He is certain

of His Son.

W-pI.160.8. God's certainty suffices. 2 Who He knows to be His Son belongs where He has

set His Son forever. 3 He has answered you who ask, "Who is the stranger?" 4 Hear His

Voice assure you, quietly and sure, that you are not a stranger to your Father, nor is your

Creator stranger made to you. 5 Whom God has joined remain forever one, at home in Him, no

stranger to Himself.

W-pI.160.9. Today we offer thanks that Christ has come to search the world for what

belongs to Him. 2 His vision sees no strangers, but beholds His Own and joyously unites with

them. 3 They see Him as a stranger, for they do not recognize themselves. 4 Yet as they

give Him welcome, they remember. 5 And He leads them gently home again, where they belong.

W-pI.160.10. Not one does Christ forget. 2 Not one He fails to give you to remember,

that your home may be complete and perfect as it was established. 3 He has not forgotten

you. 4 But you will not remember Him until you look on all as He does. 5 Who denies his

brother is denying Him, and thus refusing to accept the gift of sight by which his Self is

clearly recognized, his home remembered and salvation come.

LESSON 161.

Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.

W-pI.161.1. Today we practice differently, and take a stand against our anger, that our

fears may disappear and offer room to love. 2 Here is salvation in the simple words in

which we practice with today's idea. 3 Here is the answer to temptation which can never fail

to welcome in the Christ where fear and anger had prevailed before. 4 Here is Atonement

made complete, the world passed safely by and Heaven now restored. 5 Here is the answer

of the Voice for God.

W-pI.161.2. Complete abstraction is the natural condition of the mind. 2 But part of it

is now unnatural. 3 It does not look on everything as one. 4 It sees instead but

fragments of the whole, for only thus could it invent the partial world you see. 5 The purpose

of all seeing is to show you what you wish to see. 6 All hearing but brings to your mind

the sounds it wants to hear.

W-pI.161.3. Thus were specifics made. 2 And now it is specifics we must use in

practicing. 3 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. 4 Yet He can use but what we made, to teach us from a

different point of view, so we can see a different use in everything.

W-pI.161.4. One brother is all brothers. 2 Every mind contains all minds, for every

mind is one. 3 Such is the truth. 4 Yet do these thoughts make clear the meaning of

creation? 5 Do these words bring perfect clarity with them to you? 6 What can they seem to be

but empty sounds; pretty, perhaps, correct in sentiment, yet fundamentally not understood

nor understandable. 7 The mind that taught itself to think specifically can no longer

grasp abstraction in the sense that it is all-encompassing. 8 We need to see a little, that

we learn a lot.

W-pI.161.5. It seems to be the body that we feel limits our freedom, makes us suffer,

and at last puts out our life. 2 Yet bodies are but symbols for a concrete form of fear. 3

Fear without symbols calls for no response, for symbols can stand for the meaningless.

4 Love needs no symbols, being true. 5 But fear attaches to specifics, being false.

W-pI.161.6. Bodies attack, but minds do not. 2 This thought is surely reminiscent of

our text, where it is often emphasized. 3 This is the reason bodies easily become fear's

symbols. 4 You have many times been urged to look beyond the body, for its sight presents the

symbol of love's "enemy" Christ's vision does not see. 5 The body is the target for attack,

for no one thinks he hates a mind. 6 Yet what but mind directs the body to attack? 7 What

else could be the seat of fear except what thinks of fear?

W-pI.161.7. Hate is specific. 2 There must be a thing to be attacked. 3 An enemy must

be perceived in such a form he can be touched and seen and heard, and ultimately killed.

4 When hatred rests upon a thing, it calls for death as surely as God's Voice proclaims

there is no death. 5 Fear is insatiable, consuming everything its eyes behold, seeing itself

in everything, compelled to turn upon itself and to destroy.

W-pI.161.8. Who sees a brother as a body sees him as fear's symbol. 2 And he will

attack, because what he beholds is his own fear external to himself, poised to attack, and

howling to unite with him again. 3 Mistake not the intensity of rage projected fear must spawn.

4 It shrieks in wrath, and claws the air in frantic hope it can reach to its maker and

devour him.

W-pI.161.9. This do the body's eyes behold in one whom Heaven cherishes, the angels

love and God created perfect. 2 This is his reality. 3 And in Christ's vision is his

loveliness reflected in a form so holy and so beautiful that you could scarce refrain from

kneeling at his feet. 4 Yet you will take his hand instead, for you are like him in the sight

that sees him thus. 5 Attack on him is enemy to you, for you will not perceive that in his

hands is your salvation. 6 Ask him but for this, and he will give it to you. 7 Ask him not

to symbolize your fear. 8 Would you request that love destroy itself? 9 Or would you have

it be revealed to you and set you free?

W-pI.161.10. Today we practice in a form we have attempted earlier. 2 Your readiness is

closer now, and you will come today nearer Christ's vision. 3 If you are intent on

reaching it, you will succeed today. 4 And once you have succeeded, you will not be willing to

accept the witnesses your body's eyes call forth. 5 What you will see will sing to you of

ancient melodies you will remember. 6 You are not forgot in Heaven. 7 Would you not remember

it?

W-pI.161.11. Select one brother, symbol of the rest, and ask salvation of him. 2 See

him first as clearly as you can, in that same form to which you are accustomed. 3 See his

face, his hands and feet, his clothing. 4 Watch him smile, and see familiar gestures which

he makes so frequently. 5 Then think of this: What you are seeing now conceals from you

the sight of one who can forgive you all your sins; whose sacred hands can take away the

nails which pierce your own, and lift the crown of thorns which you have placed upon your

bleeding head. 6 Ask this of him, that he may set you free:

7 Give me your blessing, holy Son of God. 8 I would behold you with the eyes of Christ,

and see my perfect sinlessness in you.

W-pI.161.12. And He will answer Whom you called upon. 2 For He will hear the Voice for

God in you, and answer in your own. 3 Behold him now, whom you have seen as merely flesh

and bone, and recognize that Christ has come to you. 4 Today's idea is your safe escape

from anger and from fear. 5 Be sure you use it instantly, should you be tempted to attack a

brother and perceive in him the symbol of your fear. 6 And you will see him suddenly

transformed from enemy to savior; from the devil into Christ.

LESSON 162.

I am as God created me.

W-pI.162.1. This single thought, held firmly in the mind, would save the world. 2 From

time to time we will repeat it, as we reach another stage in learning. 3 It will mean far

more to you as you advance. 4 These words are sacred, for they are the words God gave in

answer to the world you made. 5 By them it disappears, and all things seen within its misty

clouds and vaporous illusions vanish as these words are spoken. 6 For they come from God.

W-pI.162.2. Here is the Word by which the Son became his Father's happiness, His Love

and His completion. 2 Here creation is proclaimed, and honored as it is. 3 There is no

dream these words will not dispel; no thought of sin and no illusion which the dream

contains that will not fade away before their might. 4 They are the trumpet of awakening that

sounds around the world. 5 The dead awake in answer to its call. 6 And those who live and

hear this sound will never look on death.

W-pI.162.3. 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. 2 His dreams are happy and his rest secure, his safety certain and his body healed,

because he sleeps and wakens with the truth before him always. 3 He will save the world,

because he gives the world what he receives each time he practices the words of truth.

W-pI.162.4. Today we practice simply. 2 For the words we use are mighty, and they need

no thoughts beyond themselves to change the mind of him who uses them. 3 So wholly is it

changed that it is now the treasury in which God places all His gifts and all His Love, to be

distributed to all the world, increased in giving; kept complete because its sharing is unlimited.

4 And thus you learn to think with God. 5 Christ's vision has restored your sight by

salvaging your mind.

W-pI.162.5. We honor you today. 2 Yours is the right to perfect holiness you now accept.

3 With this acceptance is salvation brought to everyone, for who could cherish sin

when holiness like this has blessed the world? 4 Who could despair when perfect joy is

yours, available to all as remedy for grief and misery, all sense of loss, and for complete

escape from sin and guilt?

W-pI.162.6. And who would not be brother to you now; you, his redeemer and his savior.

2 Who could fail to welcome you into his heart with loving invitation, eager to unite

with one like him in holiness? 3 You are as God created you. 4 These words dispel the night,

and darkness is no more. 5 The light is come today to bless the world. 6 For you have

recognized the Son of God, and in that recognition is the world's.

LESSON 163.

There is no death. The Son of God is free.

W-pI.163.1. Death is a thought that takes on many forms, often unrecognized. 2 It may

appear as sadness, fear, anxiety or doubt; as anger, faithlessness and lack of trust; concern

for bodies, envy, and all forms in which the wish to be as you are not may come to

tempt you. 3 All such thoughts are but reflections of the worshipping of death as savior and

as giver of release.

W-pI.163.2. Embodiment of fear, the host of sin, god of the guilty and the lord of all

illusions and deceptions, does the thought of death seem mighty. 2 For it seems to hold all

living things within its withered hand; all hopes and wishes in its blighting grasp; all

goals perceived but in its sightless eyes. 3 The frail, the helpless and the sick bow down

before its image, thinking it alone is real, inevitable, worthy of their trust. 4 For it

alone will surely come.

W-pI.163.3. All things but death are seen to be unsure, too quickly lost however hard

to gain, uncertain in their outcome, apt to fail the hopes they once engendered, and to

leave the taste of dust and ashes in their wake, in place of aspirations and of dreams. 2

But death is counted on. 3 For it will come with certain footsteps when the time has come

for its arrival. 4 It will never fail to take all life as hostage to itself.

W-pI.163.4. Would you bow down to idols such as this? 2 Here is the strength and might

of God Himself perceived within an idol made of dust. 3 Here is the opposite of God

proclaimed as lord of all creation, stronger than God's Will for life, the endlessness of love

and Heaven's perfect, changeless constancy. 4 Here is the Will of Father and of Son

defeated finally, and laid to rest beneath the headstone death has placed upon the body of the

holy Son of God.

W-pI.163.5. Unholy in defeat, he has become what death would have him be. 2 His epitaph,

which death itself has written, gives no name to him, for he has passed to dust. 3 It

says but this: "Here lies a witness God is dead." 4 And this it writes again and still

again, while all the while its worshippers agree, and kneeling down with foreheads to the

ground, they whisper fearfully that it is so.

W-pI.163.6. It is impossible to worship death in any form, and still select a few you

would not cherish and would yet avoid, while still believing in the rest. 2 For death is

total. 3 Either all things die, or else they live and cannot die. 4 No compromise is

possible. 5 For here again we see an obvious position, which we must accept if we be sane; what

contradicts one thought entirely can not be true, unless its opposite is proven false.

W-pI.163.7. The idea of the death of God is so preposterous that even the insane have

difficulty in believing it. 2 For it implies that God was once alive and somehow perished; killed,

apparently, by those who did not want Him to survive. 3 Their stronger will could

triumph over His, and so eternal life gave way to death. 4 And with the Father died the Son as

well.

W-pI.163.8. Death's worshippers may be afraid. 2 And yet, can thoughts like these be

fearful? 3 If they saw that it is only this which they believe, they would be instantly

released. 4 And you will show them this today. 5 There is no death, and we renounce it now in

every form, for their salvation and our own as well. 6 God made not death. 7 Whatever form

it takes must therefore be illusion. 8 This the stand we take today. 9 And it is given us

to look past death, and see the life beyond.

W-pI.163.9. <Our Father, bless our eyes today. 2 We are Your messengers, and we would

look upon the glorious reflection of Your Love which shines in everything. 3 We live and

move in You alone. 4 We are not separate from Your eternal life. 5 There is no death, for

death is not Your Will. 6 And we abide where You have placed us, in the life we share with

You and with all living things, to be like You and part of You forever. 7 We accept Your

Thoughts as ours, and our will is one with Yours eternally. 8 Amen.>

LESSON 164.

Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.

W-pI.164.1. What time but now can truth be recognized? 2 The present is the only time

there is. 3 And so today, this instant, now, we come to look upon what is forever there; not

in our sight, but in the eyes of Christ. 4 He looks past time, and sees eternity as

represented there. 5 He hears the sounds the senseless, busy world engenders, yet He hears them

faintly. 6 For beyond them all He hears the song of Heaven, and the Voice for God more clear,

more meaningful, more near.

W-pI.164.2. The world fades easily away before His sight. 2 Its sounds grow dim. 3 A

melody from far beyond the world increasingly is more and more distinct; an ancient call to

which He gives an ancient answer. 4 You will recognize them both, for they are but your

answer to your Father's Call to you. 5 Christ answers for you, echoing your Self, using your

voice to give His glad consent; accepting your deliverance for you.

W-pI.164.3. How holy is your practicing today, as Christ gives you His sight and hears

for you, and answers in your name the Call He hears! 2 How quiet is the time you give to

spend with Him, beyond the world. 3 How easily are all your seeming sins forgot, and all

your sorrows unremembered. 4 On this day is grief laid by, for sights and sounds that come

from nearer than the world are clear to you who will today accept the gifts He gives.

W-pI.164.4. There is a silence into which the world can not intrude. 2 There is an

ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost. 3 There is a sense of holiness in you

the thought of sin has never touched. 4 All this today you will remember. 5

Faithfulness in practicing today will bring rewards so great and so completely different from all

things you sought before, that you will know that here your treasure is, and here your rest.

W-pI.164.5. This is the day when vain imaginings part like a curtain, to reveal what

lies beyond them. 2 Now is what is really there made visible, while all the shadows which

appeared to hide it merely sink away. 3 Now is the balance righted, and the scale of judgment

left to Him Who judges true. 4 And in His judgment will a world unfold in perfect innocence

before your eyes. 5 Now will you see it with the eyes of Christ. 6 Now is its

transformation clear to you.

W-pI.164.6. Brother, this day is sacred to the world. 2 Your vision, given you from far

beyond all things within the world, looks back on them in a new light. 3 And what you

see becomes the healing and salvation of the world. 4 The valuable and valueless are both

perceived and recognized for what they are. 5 And what is worthy of your love receives your love,

while nothing to be feared remains.

W-pI.164.7. We will not judge today. 2 We will receive but what is given us from

judgment made beyond the world. 3 Our practicing today becomes our gift of thankfulness for our

release from blindness and from misery. 4 All that we see will but increase our joy,

because its holiness reflects our own. 5 We stand forgiven in the sight of Christ, with all

the world forgiven in our own. 6 We bless the world, as we behold it in the light in which

our Savior looks on us, and offer it the freedom given us through His forgiving vision,

not our own.

W-pI.164.8. Open the curtain in your practicing by merely letting go all things you

think you want. 2 Your trifling treasures put away, and leave a clean and open space within

your mind where Christ can come, and offer you the treasure of salvation. 3 He has need of

your most holy mind to save the world. 4 Is not this purpose worthy to be yours? 5 Is not

Christ's vision worthy to be sought above the world's unsatisfying goals?

W-pI.164.9. Let not today slip by without the gifts it holds for you receiving your

consent and your acceptance. 2 We can change the world, if you acknowledge them. 3 You may not

see the value your acceptance gives the world. 4 But this you surely want; you can

exchange all suffering for joy this very day. 5 Practice in earnest, and the gift is yours. 6

Would God deceive you? 7 Can His promise fail? 8 Can you withhold so little, when His Hand

holds out complete salvation to His Son?

LESSON 165.

Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.

W-pI.165.1. What makes this world seem real except your own denial of the truth that

lies beyond? 2 What but your thoughts of misery and death obscure the perfect happiness and

the eternal life your Father wills for you? 3 And what could hide what cannot be

concealed except illusion? 4 What could keep from you what you already have except your choice

to see it not, denying it is there?

W-pI.165.2. The Thought of God created you. 2 It left you not, nor have you ever been

apart from it an instant. 3 It belongs to you. 4 By it you live. 5 It is your Source of life,

holding you one with it, and everything is one with you because it left you not. 6 The

Thought of God protects you, cares for you, makes soft your resting place and smooth

your way, lighting your mind with happiness and love. 7 Eternity and everlasting life shine

in your mind, because the Thought of God has left you not, and still abides with you.

W-pI.165.3. Who would deny his safety and his peace, his joy, his healing and his peace

of mind, his quiet rest, his calm awakening, if he but recognized where they abide? 2

Would he not instantly prepare to go where they are found, abandoning all else as worthless

in comparison with them? 3 And having found them, would he not make sure they stay with

him, and he remain with them?

W-pI.165.4. Deny not Heaven. 2 It is yours today, but for the asking. 3 Nor need you

perceive how great the gift, how changed your mind will be before it comes to you. 4 Ask to

receive, and it is given you. 5 Conviction lies within it. 6 Till you welcome it as yours,

uncertainty remains. 7 Yet God is fair. 8 Sureness is not required to receive what only your

acceptance can bestow.

W-pI.165.5. Ask with desire. 2 You need not be sure that you request the only thing you

want. 3 But when you have received, you will be sure you have the treasure you have

always sought. 4 What would you then exchange for it? 5 What would induce you now to let it

fade away from your ecstatic vision? 6 For this sight proves that you have exchanged your

blindness for the seeing eyes of Christ; your mind has come to lay aside denial, and accept the

Thought of God as your inheritance.

W-pI.165.6. Now is all doubting past, the journey's end made certain, and salvation

given you. 2 Now is Christ's power in your mind, to heal as you were healed. 3 For now you

are among the saviors of the world. 4 Your destiny lies there and nowhere else. 5 Would

God consent to let His Son remain forever starved by his denial of the nourishment he

needs to live? 6 Abundance dwells in him, and deprivation cannot cut him off from God's

sustaining Love and from his home.

W-pI.165.7. Practice today in hope. 2 For hope indeed is justified. 3 Your doubts are

meaningless, for God is certain. 4 And the Thought of Him is never absent. 5 Sureness must abide

within you who are host to Him. 6 This course removes all doubts which you have interposed

between Him and your certainty of Him.

W-pI.165.8. We count on God, and not upon ourselves, to give us certainty. 2 And in His

Name we practice as His Word directs we do. 3 His sureness lies beyond our every doubt.

4 His Love remains beyond our every fear. 5 The Thought of Him is still beyond all

dreams and in our minds, according to His Will.

LESSON 166.

I am entrusted with the gifts of God.

W-pI.166.1. All things are given you. 2 God's trust in you is limitless. 3 He knows His

Son. 4 He gives without exception, holding nothing back that can contribute to your

happiness. 5 And yet, unless your will is one with His, His gifts are not received. 6 But what

would make you think there is another will than His?

W-pI.166.2. Here is the paradox that underlies the making of the world. 2 This world is

not the Will of God, and so it is not real. 3 Yet those who think it real must still

believe there is another will, and one that leads to opposite effects from those He wills. 4

Impossible indeed; but every mind that looks upon the world and judges it as certain, solid,

trustworthy and true believes in two creators; or in one, himself alone. 5 But never in one God.

W-pI.166.3. The gifts of God are not acceptable to anyone who holds such strange

beliefs. 2 He must believe that to accept God's gifts, however evident they may become,

however urgently he may be called to claim them as his own, is to be pressed to treachery

against himself. 3 He must deny their presence, contradict the truth, and suffer to preserve

the world he made.

W-pI.166.4. Here is the only home he thinks he knows. 2 Here is the only safety he

believes that he can find. 3 Without the world he made is he an outcast; homeless and afraid. 4

He does not realize that it is here he is afraid indeed, and homeless, too; an outcast

wandering so far from home, so long away, he does not realize he has forgotten where he came

from, where he goes, and even who he really is.

W-pI.166.5. Yet in his lonely, senseless wanderings, God's gifts go with him, all

unknown to him. 2 He cannot lose them. 3 But he will not look at what is given him. 4 He

wanders on, aware of the futility he sees about him everywhere, perceiving how his little lot

but dwindles, as he goes ahead to nowhere. 5 Still he wanders on in misery and poverty,

alone though God is with him, and a treasure his so great that everything the world contains

is valueless before its magnitude.

W-pI.166.6. He seems a sorry figure; weary, worn, in threadbare clothing, and with feet

that bleed a little from the rocky road he walks. 2 No one but has identified with him,

for everyone who comes here has pursued the path he follows, and has felt defeat and

hopelessness as he is feeling them. 3 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?

W-pI.166.7. This is your chosen self, the one you made as a replacement for reality. 2

This is the self you savagely defend against all reason, every evidence, and all the

witnesses with proof to show this is not you. 3 You heed them not. 4 You go on your appointed

way, with eyes cast down lest you might catch a glimpse of truth, and be released from

self-deception and set free.

W-pI.166.8. You cower fearfully lest you should feel Christ's touch upon your shoulder,

and perceive His gentle hand directing you to look upon your gifts. 2 How could you

then proclaim your poverty in exile? 3 He would make you laugh at this perception of

yourself. 4 Where is self-pity then? 5 And what becomes of all the tragedy you sought to make

for him whom God intended only joy?

W-pI.166.9. Your ancient fear has come upon you now, and justice has caught up with you

at last. 2 Christ's hand has touched your shoulder, and you feel that you are not alone.

3 You even think the miserable self you thought was you may not be your Identity. 4

Perhaps God's Word is truer than your own. 5 Perhaps His gifts to you are real. 6 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.

W-pI.166.10. God's Will does not oppose. 2 It merely is. 3 It is not God you have

imprisoned in your plan to lose your Self. 4 He does not know about a plan so alien to His Will.

5 There was a need He did not understand, to which He gave an Answer. 6 That is all. 7

And you who have this Answer given you have need no more of anything but this.

W-pI.166.11. Now do we live, for now we cannot die. 2 The wish for death is answered,

and the sight that looked upon it now has been replaced by vision which perceives that you

are not what you pretend to be. 3 One walks with you Who gently answers all your fears

with this one merciful reply, "It is not so." 4 He points to all the gifts you have each

time the thought of poverty oppresses you, and speaks of His Companionship when you

perceive yourself as lonely and afraid.

W-pI.166.12. Yet He reminds you still of one thing more you had forgotten. 2 For His

touch on you has made you like Himself. 3 The gifts you have are not for you alone. 4 What

He has come to offer you, you now must learn to give. 5 This is the lesson that His

giving holds, for He has saved you from the solitude you sought to make in which to hide from

God. 6 He has reminded you of all the gifts that God has given you. 7 He speaks as well

of what becomes your will when you accept these gifts, and recognize they are your own.

W-pI.166.13. The gifts are yours, entrusted to your care, to give to all who chose the

lonely road you have escaped. 2 They do not understand they but pursue their wishes. 3 It is

you who teach them now. 4 For you have learned of Christ there is another way for them to

walk. 5 Teach them by showing them the happiness that comes to those who feel the touch of

Christ, and recognize God's gifts. 6 Let sorrow not tempt you to be unfaithful to your trust.

W-pI.166.14. Your sighs will now betray the hopes of those who look to you for their

release. 2 Your tears are theirs. 3 If you are sick, you but withhold their healing. 4 What

you fear but teaches them their fears are justified. 5 Your hand becomes the giver of

Christ's touch; your change of mind becomes the proof that who accepts God's gifts can never

suffer anything. 6 You are entrusted with the world's release from pain.

W-pI.166.15. Betray it not. 2 Become the living proof of what Christ's touch can offer

everyone. 3 God has entrusted all His gifts to you. 4 Be witness in your happiness to how

transformed the mind becomes which chooses to accept His gifts, and feel the touch of Christ. 5

Such is your mission now. 6 For God entrusts the giving of His gifts to all who have

received them. 7 He has shared His joy with you. 8 And now you go to share it with the world.

LESSON 167.

There is one life, and that I share with God.

W-pI.167.1. There are not different kinds of life, for life is like the truth. 2 It

does not have degrees. 3 It is the one condition in which all that God created share. 4

Like all His Thoughts, it has no opposite. 5 There is no death because what God created

shares His life. 6 There is no death because an opposite to God does not exist. 7 There is no

death because the Father and the Son are One.

W-pI.167.2. In this world, there appears to be a state that is life's opposite. 2 You

call it death. 3 Yet we have learned that the idea of death takes many forms. 4 It is the

one idea which underlies all feelings that are not supremely happy. 5 It is the alarm to

which you give response of any kind that is not perfect joy. 6 All sorrow, loss, anxiety and

suffering and pain, even a little sigh of weariness, a slight discomfort or the merest

frown, acknowledge death. 7 And thus deny you live.

W-pI.167.3. You think that death is of the body. 2 Yet it is but an idea, irrelevant to

what is seen as physical. 3 A thought is in the mind. 4 It can be then applied as mind

directs it. 5 But its origin is where it must be changed, if change occurs. 6 Ideas leave not

their source. 7 The emphasis this course has placed on that idea is due to its centrality in

our attempts to change your mind about yourself. 8 It is the reason you can heal. 9 It

is the cause of healing. 10 It is why you cannot die. 11 Its truth established you as one

with God.

W-pI.167.4. Death is the thought that you are separate from your Creator. 2 It is the

belief conditions change, emotions alternate because of causes you cannot control, you did

not make, and you can never change. 3 It 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.

W-pI.167.5. Death cannot come from life. 2 Ideas remain united to their source. 3 They

can extend all that their source contains. 4 In that, they can go far beyond themselves. 5

But they can not give birth to what was never given them. 6 As they are made, so will

their making be. 7 As they were born, so will they then give birth. 8 And where they come

from, there will they return.

W-pI.167.6. The mind can think it sleeps, but that is all. 2 It cannot change what is

its waking state. 3 It cannot make a body, nor abide within a body. 4 What is alien to the

mind does not exist, because it has no source. 5 For mind creates all things that are,

and cannot give them attributes it lacks, nor change its own eternal, mindful state. 6 It

cannot make the physical. 7 What seems to die is but the sign of mind asleep.

W-pI.167.7. The opposite of life can only be another form of life. 2 As such, it can be

reconciled with what created it, because it is not opposite in truth. 3 Its form may

change; it may appear to be what it is not. 4 Yet mind is mind, awake or sleeping. 5 It is

not its opposite in anything created, nor in what it seems to make when it believes it

sleeps.

W-pI.167.8. God creates only mind awake. 2 He does not sleep, and His creations cannot

share what He gives not, nor make conditions which He does not share with them. 3 The

thought of death is not the opposite to thoughts of life. 4 Forever unopposed by opposites of

any kind, the Thoughts of God remain forever changeless, with the power to extend forever

changelessly, but yet within themselves, for they are everywhere.

W-pI.167.9. What seems to be the opposite of life is merely sleeping. 2 When the mind

elects to be what it is not, and to assume an alien power which it does not have, a foreign

state it cannot enter, or a false condition not within its Source, it merely seems to go to

sleep a while. 3 It dreams of time; an interval in which what seems to happen never has

occurred, the changes wrought are substanceless, and all events are nowhere. 4 When the mind

awakes, it but continues as it always was.

W-pI.167.10. Let us today be children of the truth, and not deny our holy heritage. 2

Our life is not as we imagine it. 3 Who changes life because he shuts his eyes, or makes

himself what he is not because he sleeps, and sees in dreams an opposite to what he is? 4 We

will not ask for death in any form today. 5 Nor will we let imagined opposites to life

abide even an instant where the Thought of life eternal has been set by God Himself.

W-pI.167.11. His holy home we strive to keep today as He established it, and wills it

be forever and forever. 2 He is Lord of what we think today. 3 And in His Thoughts, which

have no opposite, we understand there is one life, and that we share with Him, with all

creation, with their thoughts as well, whom He created in a unity of life that cannot

separate in death and leave the Source of life from where it came.

W-pI.167.12. We share one life because we have one Source, a Source from which

perfection comes to us, remaining always in the holy minds which He created perfect. 2 As we were,

so are we now and will forever be. 3 A sleeping mind must waken, as it sees its own

perfection mirroring the Lord of life so perfectly it fades into what is reflected there. 4 And

now it is no more a mere reflection. 5 It becomes the thing reflected, and the light which

makes reflection possible. 6 No vision now is needed. 7 For the wakened mind is one

that knows its Source, its Self, its Holiness.

LESSON 168.

Your grace is given me. I claim it now.

W-pI.168.1. God speaks to us. 2 Shall we not speak to Him? 3 He is not distant. 4 He

makes no attempt to hide from us. 5 We try to hide from Him, and suffer from deception. 6 He

remains entirely accessible. 7 He loves His Son. 8 There is no certainty but this, yet

this suffices. 9 He will love His Son forever. 10 When his mind remains asleep, He loves

him still. 11 And when his mind awakes, He loves him with a never-changing Love.

W-pI.168.2. If you but knew the meaning of His Love, hope and despair would be

impossible. 2 For hope would be forever satisfied; despair of any kind unthinkable. 3 His grace

His answer is to all despair, for in it lies remembrance of His Love. 4 Would He not

gladly give the means by which His Will is recognized? 5 His grace is yours by your

acknowledgment. 6 And memory of Him awakens in the mind that asks the means of Him whereby its sleep

is done.

W-pI.168.3. Today we ask of God the gift He has most carefully preserved within our

hearts, waiting to be acknowledged. 2 This the gift by which God leans to us and lifts us up,

taking salvation's final step Himself. 3 All steps but this we learn, instructed by His

Voice. 4 But finally He comes Himself, and takes us in His Arms and sweeps away the

cobwebs of our sleep. 5 His gift of grace is more than just an answer. 6 It restores all

memories the sleeping mind forgot; all certainty of what Love's meaning is.

W-pI.168.4. God loves His Son. 2 Request Him now to give the means by which this world

will disappear, and vision first will come, with knowledge but an instant later. 3 For in

grace you see a light that covers all the world in love, and watch fear disappear from every

face as hearts rise up and claim the light as theirs. 4 What now remains that Heaven be

delayed an instant longer? 5 What is still undone when your forgiveness rests on

everything?

W-pI.168.5. It is a new and holy day today, for we receive what has been given us. 2

Our faith lies in the Giver, not our own acceptance. 3 We acknowledge our mistakes, but He

to Whom all error is unknown is yet the One Who answers our mistakes by giving us the

means to lay them down, and rise to Him in gratitude and love.

W-pI.168.6. And He descends to meet us, as we come to Him. 2 For what He has prepared

for us He gives and we receive. 3 Such is His Will, because He loves His Son. 4 To Him we

pray today, returning but the word He gave to us through His Own Voice, His Word, His Love:

5 Your grace is given me. 6 I claim it now. 7 Father, I come to You. 8 And You will

come to me who ask. 9 I am the Son You love.

LESSON 169.

By grace I live. By grace I am released.

W-pI.169.1. Grace is an aspect of the Love of God which is most like the state

prevailing in the unity of truth. 2 It is the world's most lofty aspiration, for it leads beyond

the world entirely. 3 It is past learning, yet the goal of learning, for grace cannot come

until the mind prepares itself for true acceptance. 4 Grace becomes inevitable

instantly in those who have prepared a table where it can be gently laid and willingly received;

an altar clean and holy for the gift.

W-pI.169.2. Grace is acceptance of the Love of God within a world of seeming hate and

fear. 2 By grace alone the hate and fear are gone, for grace presents a state so opposite

to everything the world contains, that those whose minds are lighted by the gift of grace

can not believe the world of fear is real.

W-pI.169.3. Grace is not learned. 2 The final step must go beyond all learning. 3 Grace

is not the goal this course aspires to attain. 4 Yet we prepare for grace in that an

open mind can hear the Call to waken. 5 It is not shut tight against God's Voice. 6 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.

W-pI.169.4. We have perhaps appeared to contradict our statement that the revelation of

the Father and the Son as One has been already set. 2 But we have also said the mind

determines when that time will be, and has determined it. 3 And yet we urge you to bear witness

to the Word of God to hasten the experience of truth, and speed its advent into every

mind that recognizes truth's effects on you.

W-pI.169.5. Oneness is simply the idea God is. 2 And in His Being, He encompasses all

things. 3 No mind holds anything but Him. 4 We say "God is," and then we cease to speak, for

in that knowledge words are meaningless. 5 There are no lips to speak them, and no part

of mind sufficiently distinct to feel that it is now aware of something not itself. 6 It

has united with its Source. 7 And like its Source Itself, it merely is.

W-pI.169.6. We cannot speak nor write nor even think of this at all. 2 It comes to

every mind when total recognition that its will is God's has been completely given and

received completely. 3 It returns the mind into the endless present, where the past and future

cannot be conceived. 4 It lies beyond salvation; past all thought of time, forgiveness and

the holy face of Christ. 5 The Son of God has merely disappeared into his Father, as his

Father has in him. 6 The world has never been at all. 7 Eternity remains a constant state.

W-pI.169.7. This is beyond experience we try to hasten. 2 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. 3 We do not hasten it, in that what you will

offer was concealed from Him Who teaches what forgiveness means.

W-pI.169.8. All learning was already in His Mind, accomplished and complete. 2 He

recognized all that time holds, and gave it to all minds that each one might determine, from a

point where time was ended, when it is released to revelation and eternity. 3 We have

repeated several times before that you but make a journey that is done.

W-pI.169.9. For oneness must be here. 2 Whatever time the mind has set for revelation

is entirely irrelevant to what must be a constant state, forever as it always was;

forever to remain as it is now. 3 We merely take the part assigned long since, and fully

recognized as perfectly fulfilled by Him Who wrote salvation's script in His Creator's Name, and

in the Name of His Creator's Son.

W-pI.169.10. There is no need to further clarify what no one in the world can

understand. 2 When revelation of your oneness comes, it will be known and fully understood. 3 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. 4 Yet what meaning can the words convey to

those who count the hours still, and rise and work and go to sleep by them?

W-pI.169.11. Suffice it, then, that you have work to do to play your part. 2 The ending

must remain obscure to you until your part is done. 3 It does not matter. 4 For your

part is still what all the rest depends on. 5 As you take the role assigned to you,

salvation comes a little nearer each uncertain heart that does not beat as yet in tune with God.

W-pI.169.12. Forgiveness is the central theme that runs throughout salvation, holding

all its parts in meaningful relationships, the course it runs directed and its outcome

sure. 2 And now we ask for grace, the final gift salvation can bestow. 3 Experience that

grace provides will end in time, for grace foreshadows Heaven, yet does not replace the

thought of time but for a little while.

W-pI.169.13. The interval suffices. 2 It is here that miracles are laid; 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. 3 What is the face of Christ but his who went a

moment into timelessness, and brought a clear reflection of the unity he felt an instant back

to bless the world? 4 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?

W-pI.169.14. Be grateful to return, as you were glad to go an instant, and accept the

gifts that grace provided you. 2 You carry them back to yourself. 3 And revelation stands

not far behind. 4 Its coming is ensured. 5 We ask for grace, and for experience that comes

from grace. 6 We welcome the release it offers everyone. 7 We do not ask for the

unaskable. 8 We do not look beyond what grace can give. 9 For this we can give in the grace that

has been given us.

W-pI.169.15. Our learning goal today does not exceed this prayer. 2 Yet in the world,

what could be more than what we ask this day of Him Who gives the grace we ask, as it was

given Him?

3 By grace I live. 4 By grace I am released.

5 By grace I give. 6 By grace I will release.

LESSON 170.

There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

W-pI.170.1. No one attacks without intent to hurt. 2 This can have no exception. 3 When

you think that you attack in self-defense, you mean that to be cruel is protection; you

are safe because of cruelty. 4 You mean that you believe to hurt another brings you

freedom. 5 And you mean that to attack is to exchange the state in which you are for something

better, safer, more secure from dangerous invasion and from fear.

W-pI.170.2. How thoroughly insane is the idea that to defend from fear is to attack! 2

For here is fear begot and fed with blood, to make it grow and swell and rage. 3 And thus

is fear protected, not escaped. 4 Today we learn a lesson which can save you more delay

and needless misery than you can possibly imagine. 5 It is this:

6 You make what you defend against, and by your own defense against it is it real and

inescapable. 7 Lay down your arms, and only then do you perceive it false.

W-pI.170.3. It seems to be the enemy without that you attack. 2 Yet your defense sets

up an enemy within; an alien thought at war with you, depriving you of peace, splitting

your mind into two camps which seem wholly irreconcilable. 3 For love now has an "enemy,"

an opposite; and fear, the alien, now needs your defense against the threat of what you

really are.

W-pI.170.4. If you consider carefully the means by which your fancied self-defense

proceeds on its imagined way, you will perceive the premises on which the idea stands. 2 First,

it is obvious ideas must leave their source, for it is you who make attack, and must

have first conceived of it. 3 Yet you attack outside yourself, and separate your mind from

him who is to be attacked, with perfect faith the split you made is real.

W-pI.170.5. Next, are the attributes of love bestowed upon its "enemy." 2 For fear

becomes your safety and protector of your peace, to which you turn for solace and escape from

doubts about your strength, and hope of rest in dreamless quiet. 3 And as love is shorn of

what belongs to it and it alone, love is endowed with attributes of fear. 4 For love would

ask you lay down all defense as merely foolish. 5 And your arms indeed would crumble into

dust. 6 For such they are.

W-pI.170.6. With love as enemy, must cruelty become a god. 2 And gods demand that those

who worship them obey their dictates, and refuse to question them. 3 Harsh punishment

is meted out relentlessly to those who ask if the demands are sensible or even sane. 4 It

is their enemies who are unreasonable and insane, while they are always merciful and

just.

W-pI.170.7. Today we look upon this cruel god dispassionately. 2 And we note that

though his lips are smeared with blood, and fire seems to flame from him, he is but made of

stone. 3 He can do nothing. 4 We need not defy his power. 5 He has none. 6 And those who see

in him their safety have no guardian, no strength to call upon in danger, and no mighty

warrior to fight for them.

W-pI.170.8. This moment can be terrible. 2 But it can also be the time of your release

from abject slavery. 3 You make a choice, standing before this idol, seeing him exactly as

he is. 4 Will you restore to love what you have sought to wrest from it and lay before

this mindless piece of stone? 5 Or will you make another idol to replace it? 6 For the god

of cruelty takes many forms. 7 Another can be found.

W-pI.170.9. Yet do not think that fear is the escape from fear. 2 Let us remember what

the text has stressed about the obstacles to peace. 3 The final one, the hardest to

believe is nothing, and a seeming obstacle with the appearance of a solid block, impenetrable,

fearful and beyond surmounting, is the fear of God Himself. 4 Here is the basic premise

which enthrones the thought of fear as god. 5 For fear is loved by those who worship it,

and love appears to be invested now with cruelty.

W-pI.170.10. Where does the totally insane belief in gods of vengeance come from? 2

Love has not confused its attributes with those of fear. 3 Yet must the worshippers of fear

perceive their own confusion in fear's "enemy"; its cruelty as now a part of love. 4

And what becomes more fearful than the Heart of Love Itself? 5 The blood appears to be

upon His Lips; the fire comes from Him. 6 And He is terrible above all else, cruel beyond

conception, striking down all who acknowledge Him to be their God.

W-pI.170.11. The choice you make today is certain. 2 For you look for the last time

upon this bit of carven stone you made, and call it god no longer. 3 You have reached this

place before, but you have chosen that this cruel god remain with you in still another form.

4 And so the fear of God returned with you. 5 This time you leave it there. 6 And you

return to a new world, unburdened by its weight; beheld not in its sightless eyes, but in the

vision that your choice restored to you.

W-pI.170.12. Now do your eyes belong to Christ, and He looks through them. 2 Now your

voice belongs to God and echoes His. 3 And now your heart remains at peace forever. 4 You

have chosen Him in place of idols, and your attributes, given by your Creator, are restored

to you at last. 5 The Call for God is heard and answered. 6 Now has fear made way for

love, as God Himself replaces cruelty.

W-pI.170.13. <Father, we are like You. 2 No cruelty abides in us, for there is none in

You. 3 Your peace is ours. 4 And we bless the world with what we have received from You

alone. 5 We choose again, and make our choice for all our brothers, knowing they are

one with us. 6 We bring them Your salvation as we have received it now. 7 And we give

thanks for them who render us complete. 8 In them we see Your glory, and in them we find our

peace. 9 Holy are we because Your Holiness has set us free. 10 And we give thanks. 11 Amen.

REVIEW V

Introduction

W-pI.rV.in.1. We now review again. 2 This time we are ready to give more effort and

more time to what we undertake. 3 We recognize we are preparing for another phase of

understanding. 4 We would take this step completely, that we may go on again more certain, more

sincere, with faith upheld more surely. 5 Our footsteps have not been unwavering, and doubts

have made us walk uncertainly and slowly on the road this course sets forth. 6 But now we

hasten on, for we approach a greater certainty, a firmer purpose and a surer goal.

W-pI.rV.in.2. <Steady our feet, our Father. 2 Let our doubts be quiet and our holy

minds be still, and speak to us. 3 We have no words to give to You. 4 We would but listen to

Your Word, and make it ours. 5 Lead our practicing as does a father lead a little child

along a way he does not understand. 6 Yet does he follow, sure that he is safe because

his father leads the way for him.

W-pI.rV.in.3. <So do we bring our practicing to You. 2 And if we stumble, You will

raise us up. 3 If we forget the way, we count upon Your sure remembering. 4 We wander off,

but You will not forget to call us back. 5 Quicken our footsteps now, that we may walk

more certainly and quickly unto You. 6 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.4. This is the thought which should precede the thoughts that we review. 2

Each one but 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:

3 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

4 This Self alone knows Love. 5 This Self alone 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.

W-pI.rV.in.5. And it is this that waits to meet us at the journey's ending. 2 Every

step we take brings us a little nearer. 3 This review will shorten time immeasurably, if we

keep in mind that this remains our goal, and as we practice it is this to which we are

approaching. 4 Let us raise our hearts from dust to life, as we remember this is promised us, and

that 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.

W-pI.rV.in.6. I take the journey with you. 2 For I share your doubts and fears a little

while, that you may come to me who recognize the road by which all fears and doubts are

overcome. 3 We walk together. 4 I must understand uncertainty and pain, although I know

they have no meaning. 5 Yet a savior must remain with those he teaches, seeing what

they see, but still retaining in his mind the way that led him out, and now will lead you

out with him. 6 God's Son is crucified until you walk along the road with me.

W-pI.rV.in.7. My resurrection comes again each time I lead a brother safely to the

place at which the journey ends and is forgot. 2 I am renewed each time a brother learns

there is a way from misery and pain. 3 I am reborn each time a brother's mind turns to the

light in him and looks for me. 4 I have forgotten no one. 5 Help me now to lead you back to

where the journey was begun, to make another choice with me.

W-pI.rV.in.8. Release me as you practice once again the thoughts I brought to you from

Him Who sees your bitter need, and knows the answer God has given Him. 2 Together we

review these thoughts. 3 Together we devote our time and effort to them. 4 And together we

will teach them to our brothers. 5 God would not have Heaven incomplete. 6 It waits for you,

as I do. 7 I am incomplete without your part in me. 8 And as I am made whole we go

together to our ancient home, prepared for us before time was and kept unchanged by time,

immaculate and safe, as it will be at last when time is done.

W-pI.rV.in.9. Let this review be then your gift to me. 2 For this alone I need; that

you will hear the words I speak, and give them to the world. 3 You are my voice, my eyes,

my feet, my hands through which I save the world. 4 The Self from which I call to you is

but your own. 5 To Him we go together. 6 Take your brother's hand, for this is not a way

we walk alone. 7 In him I walk with you, and you with me. 8 Our Father wills His Son be

one with Him. 9 What lives but must not then be one with you?

W-pI.rV.in.10. Let this review become a time in which we share a new experience for you,

yet one as old as time and older still. 2 Hallowed your Name. 3 Your glory undefiled

forever. 4 And your wholeness now complete, as God established it. 5 You are His Son,

completing His extension in your own. 6 We practice but an ancient truth we knew before illusion

seemed to claim the world. 7 And we remind the world that it is free of all illusions every

time we say:

8 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.rV.in.11. With this we start each day of our review. 2 With this we start and end

each period of practice time. 3 And with this thought we sleep, to waken once again with

these same words upon our lips, to greet another day. 4 No thought that we review but we

surround with it, and use the thoughts to hold it up before our minds, and keep it clear in our

rememberance throughout the day. 5 And thus, when we have finished this review, we will

have recognized the words we speak are true.

W-pI.rV.in.12. Yet are the words but aids, and to be used, except at the beginning and

the end of practice periods, but to recall the mind, as needed, to its purpose. 2 We place

faith in the experience that comes from practice, not the means we use. 3 We wait for

the experience, and recognize that it is only here conviction lies. 4 We use the words,

and try and try again to go beyond them to their meaning, which is far beyond their sound.

5 The sound grows dim and disappears, as we approach the Source of meaning. 6 It is

Here that we find rest.

LESSON 171.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.171.1. (151) All things are echoes of the Voice for God.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.171.2. (152) The power of decision is my own.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 172.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.172.1. (153) In my defenselessness my safety lies.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.172.2. (154) I am among the ministers of God.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 173.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.173.1. (155) I will step back and let Him lead the way.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.173.2. (156) I walk with God in perfect holiness.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 174.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.174.1. (157) Into His Presence would I enter now.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.174.2. (158) Today I learn to give as I receive.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 175.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.175.1. (159) I give the miracles I have received.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.175.2. (160) I am at home. 2 Fear is the stranger here.

3 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 176.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.176.1. (161) Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.176.2. (162) I am as God created me.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 177.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.177.1. (163) There is no death. 2 The Son of God is free.

3 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.177.2. (164) Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 178.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.178.1. (165) Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.178.2. (166) I am entrusted with the gifts of God.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 179.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.179.1. (167) There is one life, and that I share with God.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.179.2. (168) Your grace is given me. 2 I claim it now.

3 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

LESSON 180.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.180.1. (169) By grace I live. 2 By grace I am released.

3 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

W-pI.180.2. (170) There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

2 God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

Introduction to Lessons 181-200.

W-pI.in.181-200.1. Our next few lessons make a special point of firming up your

willingness to make your weak commitment strong; your scattered goals blend into one intent. 2 You

are not asked for total dedication all the time as yet. 3 But you are asked to practice

now in order to attain the sense of peace such unified commitment will bestow, if only

intermittently. 4 It is experiencing this that makes it sure that you will give your total

willingness to following the way the course sets forth.

W-pI.in.181-200.2. Our lessons now are geared specifically to widening horizons, and

direct approaches to the special blocks that keep your vision narrow, and too limited to let

you see the value of our goal. 2 We are attempting now to lift these blocks, however

briefly. 3 Words alone can not convey the sense of liberation which their lifting brings. 4

But the experience of freedom and of peace that comes as you give up your tight control of

what you see speaks for itself. 5 Your motivation will be so intensified that words

become of little consequence. 6 You will be sure of what you want, and what is valueless.

W-pI.in.181-200.3. And so we start our journey beyond words by concentrating first on

what impedes your progress still. 2 Experience of what exists beyond defensiveness remains

beyond achievement while it is denied. 3 It may be there, but you cannot accept its presence.

4 So we now attempt to go past all defenses for a little while each day. 5 No more than

this is asked, because no more than this is needed. 6 It will be enough to guarantee

the rest will come.

LESSON 181.

I trust my brothers, who are one with me.

W-pI.181.1. Trusting your brothers is essential to establishing and holding up your

faith in your ability to transcend doubt and lack of sure conviction in yourself. 2 When you

attack a brother, you proclaim that he is limited by what you have perceived in him. 3

You do not look beyond his errors. 4 Rather, they are magnified, becoming blocks to your

awareness of the Self that lies beyond your own mistakes, and past his seeming sins as well as

yours.

W-pI.181.2. Perception has a focus. 2 It is this that gives consistency to what you see.

3 Change but this focus, and what you behold will change accordingly. 4 Your vision

now will shift, to give support to the intent which has replaced the one you held before.

5 Remove your focus on your brother's sins, and you experience the peace that comes from

faith in sinlessness. 6 This faith receives its only sure support from what you see in

others past their sins. 7 For their mistakes, if focused on, are witnesses to sins in you. 8

And you will not transcend their sight and see the sinlessness that lies beyond.

W-pI.181.3. Therefore, in practicing today, we first let all such little focuses give

way to our great need to let our sinlessness become apparent. 2 We instruct our minds that

it is this we seek, and only this, for just a little while. 3 We do not care about our

future goals. 4 And what we saw an instant previous has no concern for us within this

interval of time wherein we practice changing our intent. 5 We seek for innocence and nothing

else. 6 We seek for it with no concern but now.

W-pI.181.4. A major hazard to success has been involvement with your past and future

goals. 2 You have been quite preoccupied with how extremely different the goals this course

is advocating are from those you held before. 3 And you have also been dismayed by the

depressing and restricting thought that, even if you should succeed, you will inevitably lose

your way again.

W-pI.181.5. How could this matter? 2 For the past is gone; the future but imagined. 3

These concerns are but defenses against present change of focus in perception. 4 Nothing

more. 5 We lay these pointless limitations by a little while. 6 We do not look to past

beliefs, and what we will believe will not intrude upon us now. 7 We enter in the time of

practicing with one intent; to look upon the sinlessness within.

W-pI.181.6. We recognize that we have lost this goal if anger blocks our way in any

form. 2 And if a brother's sins occur to us, our narrowed focus will restrict our sight,

and turn our eyes upon our own mistakes, which we will magnify and call our "sins." 3 So,

for a little while, without regard to past or future, should such blocks arise we will

transcend them with instructions to our minds to change their focus, as we say:

4 It is not this that I would look upon.

5 I trust my brothers, who are one with me.

W-pI.181.7. And we will also use this thought to keep us safe throughout the day. 2 We

do not seek for long-range goals. 3 As each obstruction seems to block the vision of our

sinlessness, we seek but for surcease an instant from the misery the focus upon sin will bring,

and uncorrected will remain.

W-pI.181.8. Nor do we ask for fantasies. 2 For what we seek to look upon is really

there. 3 And as our focus goes beyond mistakes, we will behold a wholly sinless world. 4

When seeing this is all we want to see, when this is all we seek for in the name of true

perception, are the eyes of Christ inevitably ours. 5 And the Love He feels for us becomes our

own as well. 6 This will become the only thing we see reflected in the world and in

ourselves.

W-pI.181.9. The world which once proclaimed our sins becomes the proof that we are

sinless. 2 And our love for everyone we look upon attests to our remembrance of the holy Self

which knows no sin, and never could conceive of anything without Its sinlessness. 3 We seek

for this remembrance as we turn our minds to practicing today. 4 We look neither ahead nor

backwards. 5 We look straight into the present. 6 And we give our trust to the

experience we ask for now. 7 Our sinlessness is but the Will of God. 8 This instant is our

willing one with His.

LESSON 182.

I will be still an instant and go home.

W-pI.182.1. This world you seem to live in is not home to you. 2 And somewhere in your

mind you know that this is true. 3 A memory of home keeps haunting you, as if there were a

place that called you to return, although you do not recognize the voice, nor what it is the

voice reminds you of. 4 Yet still you feel an alien here, from somewhere all unknown. 5

Nothing so definite that you could say with certainty you are an exile here. 6 Just a

persistent feeling, sometimes not more than a tiny throb, at other times hardly remembered,

actively dismissed, but surely to return to mind again.

W-pI.182.2. No one but knows whereof we speak. 2 Yet some try to put by their suffering

in games they play to occupy their time, and keep their sadness from them. 3 Others

will deny that they are sad, and do not recognize their tears at all. 4 Still others will

maintain that what we speak of is illusion, not to be considered more than but a dream. 5 Yet

who, in simple honesty, without defensiveness and self-deception, would deny he

understands the words we speak?

W-pI.182.3. We speak today for everyone who walks this world, for he is not at home. 2

He goes uncertainly about in endless search, seeking in darkness what he cannot find; not

recognizing what it is he seeks. 3 A thousand homes he makes, yet none contents his

restless mind. 4 He does not understand he builds in vain. 5 The home he seeks can not be made

by him. 6 There is no substitute for Heaven. 7 All he ever made was hell.

W-pI.182.4. Perhaps you think it is your childhood home that you would find again. 2

The childhood of your body, and its place of shelter, are a memory now so distorted that

you merely hold a picture of a past that never happened. 3 Yet there is a Child in you Who

seeks His Father's house, and knows that He is alien here. 4 This childhood is eternal,

with an innocence that will endure forever. 5 Where this Child shall go is holy ground.

6 It is His Holiness that lights up Heaven, and that brings to earth the pure

reflection of the light above, wherein are earth and Heaven joined as one.

W-pI.182.5. It is this Child in you your Father knows as His Own Son. 2 It is this

Child Who knows His Father. 3 He desires to go home so deeply, so unceasingly, His voice

cries unto you to let Him rest a while. 4 He does not ask for more than just a few instants

of respite; just an interval in which He can return to breathe again the holy air that

fills His Father's house. 5 You are His home as well. 6 He will return. 7 But give Him just

a little time to be Himself, within the peace that is His home, resting in silence and

in peace and love.

W-pI.182.6. This Child needs your protection. 2 He is far from home. 3 He is so little

that He seems so easily shut out, His tiny voice so readily obscured, His call for help

almost unheard amid the grating sounds and harsh and rasping noises of the world. 4 Yet does

He know that in you still abides His sure protection. 5 You will fail Him not. 6 He will

go home, and you along with Him.

W-pI.182.7. This Child is your defenselessness; your strength. 2 He trusts in you. 3 He

came because He knew you would not fail. 4 He whispers of His home unceasingly to you.

5 For He would bring you back with Him, that He Himself might stay, and not return again

where He does not belong, and where He lives an outcast in a world of alien thoughts. 6

His patience has no limits. 7 He will wait until you hear His gentle Voice within you,

calling you to let Him go in peace, along with you, to where He is at home and you with Him.

W-pI.182.8. When you are still an instant, when the world recedes from you, when

valueless ideas cease to have value in your restless mind, then will you hear His Voice. 2 So

poignantly He calls to you that you will not resist Him longer. 3 In that instant He will take

you to His home, and you will stay with Him in perfect stillness, silent and at peace,

beyond all words, untouched by fear and doubt, sublimely certain that you are at home.

W-pI.182.9. Rest with Him frequently today. 2 For He was willing to become a little

Child that you might learn of Him how strong is he who comes without defenses, offering only

love's messages to those who think he is their enemy. 3 He holds the might of Heaven in

His hand and calls them friend, and gives His strength to them, that they may see He

would be Friend to them. 4 He asks that they protect Him, for His home is far away, and He

will not return to it alone.

W-pI.182.10. Christ is reborn as but a little Child each time a wanderer would leave

his home. 2 For he must learn that what he would protect is but this Child, Who comes

defenseless and Who is protected by defenselessness. 3 Go home with Him from time to time today. 4

You are as much an alien here as He.

W-pI.182.11. Take time today to lay aside your shield which profits nothing, and lay

down the spear and sword you raised against an enemy without existence. 2 Christ has called

you friend and brother. 3 He has even come to ask your help in letting Him go home

today, completed and completely. 4 He has come as does a little child, who must beseech his

father for protection and for love. 5 He rules the universe, and yet He asks unceasingly that

you return with Him, and take illusions as your gods no more.

W-pI.182.12. You have not lost your innocence. 2 It is for this you yearn. 3 This is

your heart's desire. 4 This is the voice you hear, and this the call which cannot be denied.

5 The holy Child remains with you. 6 His home is yours. 7 Today He gives you His

defenselessness, and you accept it in exchange for all the toys of battle you have made. 8 And now the

way is open, and the journey has an end in sight at last. 9 Be still an instant and go

home with Him, and be at peace a while.

LESSON 183.

I call upon God's Name and on my own.

W-pI.183.1. God's Name is holy, but no holier than yours. 2 To call upon His Name is

but to call upon your own. 3 A father gives his son his name, and thus identifies the son

with him. 4 His brothers share his name, and thus are they united in a bond to which they

turn for their identity. 5 Your Father's Name reminds you who you are, even within a world

that does not know; even though you have not remembered it.

W-pI.183.2. God's Name can not be heard without response, nor said without an echo in

the mind that calls you to remember. 2 Say His Name, and you invite the angels to surround

the ground on which you stand, and sing to you as they spread out their wings to keep

you safe, and shelter you from every worldly thought that would intrude upon your holiness.

W-pI.183.3. Repeat God's Name, and all the world responds by laying down illusions. 2

Every dream the world holds dear has suddenly gone by, and where it seemed to stand you find

a star; a miracle of grace. 3 The sick arise, healed of their sickly thoughts. 4 The

blind can see; the deaf can hear. 5 The sorrowful cast off their mourning, and the tears of

pain are dried as happy laughter comes to bless the world.

W-pI.183.4. Repeat the Name of God, and little names have lost their meaning. 2 No

temptation but becomes a nameless and unwanted thing before God's Name. 3 Repeat His Name, and

see how easily you will forget the names of all the gods you valued. 4 They have lost the

name of god you gave them. 5 They become anonymous and valueless to you, although before

you let the Name of God replace their little names, you stood before them worshipfully,

naming them as gods.

W-pI.183.5. Repeat the Name of God, and call upon your Self, Whose Name is His. 2

Repeat His Name, and all the tiny, nameless things on earth slip into right perspective. 3

Those who call upon the Name of God can not mistake the nameless for the Name, nor sin for

grace, nor bodies for the holy Son of God. 4 And should you join a brother as you sit with

him in silence, and repeat God's Name along with him within your quiet mind, you have

established there an altar which reaches to God Himself and to His Son.

W-pI.183.6. Practice but this today; repeat God's Name slowly again and still again. 2

Become oblivious to every name but His. 3 Hear nothing else. 4 Let all your thoughts become

anchored on this. 5 No other word we use except at the beginning, when we say today's idea but

once. 6 And then God's 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.183.7. Thus do we give an invitation which can never be refused. 2 And God will

come, and answer it Himself. 3 Think not He hears the little prayers of those who call on

Him with names of idols cherished by the world. 4 They cannot reach Him thus. 5 He cannot

hear requests that He be not Himself, or that His Son receive another name than His.

W-pI.183.8. Repeat God's Name, and you acknowledge Him as sole Creator of reality. 2

And you acknowledge also that His Son is part of Him, creating in His Name. 3 Sit silently,

and let His Name become the all-encompassing idea that holds your mind completely. 4

Let all thoughts be still except this one. 5 And to all other thoughts respond with this,

and see God's 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.183.9. Today you can achieve a state in which you will experience the gift of

grace. 2 You can escape all bondage of the world, and give the world the same release you

found. 3 You can remember what the world forgot, and offer it your own remembering. 4 You

can accept today the part you play in its salvation, and your own as well. 5 And both can

be accomplished perfectly.

W-pI.183.10. Turn to the Name of God for your release, and it is given you. 2 No prayer

but this is necessary, for it holds them all within it. 3 Words are insignificant, and

all requests unneeded when God's Son calls on his Father's Name. 4 His Father's Thoughts

become his own. 5 He makes his claim to all his Father gave, is giving still, and will

forever give. 6 He calls on Him to let all things he thought he made be nameless now, and in

their place the holy Name of God becomes his judgment of their worthlessness.

W-pI.183.11. All little things are silent. 2 Little sounds are soundless now. 3 The

little things of earth have disappeared. 4 The universe consists of nothing but the Son of

God, who calls upon his Father. 5 And his Father's Voice gives answer in his Father's holy

Name. 6 In this eternal, still relationship, in which communication far transcends all

words, and yet exceeds in depth and height whatever words could possibly convey, is peace

eternal. 7 In our Father's Name, we would experience this peace today. 8 And in His Name, it

shall be given us.

LESSON 184.

The Name of God is my inheritance.

W-pI.184.1. You live by symbols. 2 You have made up names for everything you see. 3

Each one becomes a separate entity, identified by its own name. 4 By this you carve it out

of unity. 5 By this you designate its special attributes, and set it off from other

things by emphasizing space surrounding it. 6 This space you lay between all things to which

you give a different name; all happenings in terms of place and time; all bodies which are

greeted by a name.

W-pI.184.2. This space you see as setting off all things from one another is the means

by which the world's perception is achieved. 2 You see something where nothing is, and

see as well nothing where there is unity; a space between all things, between all things

and you. 3 Thus do you think that you have given life in separation. 4 By this split you

think you are established as a unity which functions with an independent will.

W-pI.184.3. What are these names by which the world becomes a series of discrete events,

of things ununified, of bodies kept apart and holding bits of mind as separate

awarenesses? 2 You gave these names to them, establishing perception as you wished to have

perception be. 3 The nameless things were given names, and thus reality was given them as well. 4

For what is named is given meaning and will then be seen as meaningful; a cause of true

effect, with consequence inherent in itself.

W-pI.184.4. This is the way reality is made by partial vision, purposefully set against

the given truth. 2 Its enemy is wholeness. 3 It conceives of little things and looks

upon them. 4 And a lack of space, a sense of unity or vision that sees differently, become

the threats which it must overcome, conflict with and deny.

W-pI.184.5. Yet does this other vision still remain a natural direction for the mind to

channel its perception. 2 It is hard to teach the mind a thousand alien names, and

thousands more. 3 Yet you believe this is what learning means; its one essential goal by which

communication is achieved, and concepts can be meaningfully shared.

W-pI.184.6. This is the sum of the inheritance the world bestows. 2 And everyone who

learns to think that it is so accepts the signs and symbols that assert the world is real. 3

It is for this they stand. 4 They leave no doubt that what is named is there. 5 It can be

seen, as is anticipated. 6 What denies that it is true is but illusion, for it is the

ultimate reality. 7 To question it is madness; to accept its presence is the proof of sanity.

W-pI.184.7. Such is the teaching of the world. 2 It is a phase of learning everyone who

comes must go through. 3 But the sooner he perceives on what it rests, how questionable

are its premises, how doubtful its results, the sooner does he question its effects. 4

Learning that stops with what the world would teach stops short of meaning. 5 In its proper

place, it serves but as a starting point from which another kind of learning can begin, a

new perception can be gained, and all the arbitrary names the world bestows can be

withdrawn as they are raised to doubt.

W-pI.184.8. Think not you made the world. 2 Illusions, yes! 3 But what is true in earth

and Heaven is beyond your naming. 4 When you call upon a brother, it is to his body

that you make appeal. 5 His true Identity is hidden from you by what you believe he really

is. 6 His body makes response to what you call him, for his mind consents to take the

name you give him as his own. 7 And thus his unity is twice denied, for you perceive him

separate from you, and he accepts this separate name as his.

W-pI.184.9. It would indeed be strange if you were asked to go beyond all symbols of

the world, forgetting them forever; yet were asked to take a teaching function. 2 You have

need to use the symbols of the world a while. 3 But be you not deceived by them as well.

4 They do not stand for anything at all, and in your practicing it is this thought

that will release you from them. 5 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.

W-pI.184.10. 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. 2 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. 3 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.

W-pI.184.11. Use all the little names and symbols which delineate the world of darkness.

2 Yet accept them not as your reality. 3 The Holy Spirit uses all of them, but He does

not forget creation has one Name, one meaning, and a single Source which unifies all

things within Itself. 4 Use all the names the world bestows on them but for convenience, yet

do not forget they share the Name of God along with you.

W-pI.184.12. God has no name. 2 And yet His Name becomes the final lesson that all

things are one, and at this lesson does all learning end. 3 All names are unified; all space

is filled with truth's reflection. 4 Every gap is closed, and separation healed. 5 The

Name of God is the inheritance He gave to those who chose the teaching of the world to take

the place of Heaven. 6 In our practicing, our purpose is to let our minds accept what

God has given as the answer to the pitiful inheritance you made as fitting tribute to the

Son He loves.

W-pI.184.13. No one can fail who seeks the meaning of the Name of God. 2 Experience

must come to supplement the Word. 3 But first you must accept the Name for all reality, and

realize the many names you gave its aspects have distorted what you see, but have not

interfered with truth at all. 4 One Name we bring into our practicing. 5 One Name we use to unify

our sight.

W-pI.184.14. And though we use a different name for each awareness of an aspect of

God's Son, we understand that they have but one Name, which He has given them. 2 It is this

Name we use in practicing. 3 And through Its use, all foolish separations disappear which

kept us blind. 4 And we are given strength to see beyond them. 5 Now our sight is blessed

with blessings we can give as we receive.

W-pI.184.15. Father, our Name is Yours. 2 In It we are united with all living things,

and You Who are their one Creator. 3 What we made and call by many different names is but

a shadow we have tried to cast across Your Own reality. 4 And we are glad and thankful

we were wrong. 5 All our mistakes we give to You, that we may be absolved from all

effects our errors seemed to have. 6 And we accept the truth You give, in place of every one

of them. 7 Your Name is our salvation and escape from what we made. 8 Your Name unites us

in the oneness which is our inheritance and peace. 9 Amen.

LESSON 185.

I want the peace of God.

W-pI.185.1. To say these words is nothing. 2 But to mean these words is everything. 3

If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible

for you in any form; in any place or time. 4 Heaven would be completely given back to

full awareness, memory of God entirely restored, the resurrection of all creation fully

recognized.

W-pI.185.2. No one can mean these words and not be healed. 2 He cannot play with dreams,

nor think he is himself a dream. 3 He cannot make a hell and think it real. 4 He wants

the peace of God, and it is given him. 5 For that is all he wants, and that is all he

will receive. 6 Many have said these words. 7 But few indeed have meant them. 8 You have

but to look upon the world you see around you to be sure how very few they are. 9 The

world would be completely changed, should any two agree these words express the only thing

they want.

W-pI.185.3. Two minds with one intent become so strong that what they will becomes the

Will of God. 2 For minds can only join in truth. 3 In dreams, no two can share the same

intent. 4 To each, the hero of the dream is different; the outcome wanted not the same for

both. 5 Loser and gainer merely shift about in changing patterns, as the ratio of gain to

loss and loss to gain takes on a different aspect or another form.

W-pI.185.4. Yet compromise alone a dream can bring. 2 Sometimes it takes the form of

union, but only the form. 3 The meaning must escape the dream, for compromising is the goal

of dreaming. 4 Minds cannot unite in dreams. 5 They merely bargain. 6 And what bargain

can give them the peace of God? 7 Illusions come to take His place. 8 And what He means is

lost to sleeping minds intent on compromise, each to his gain and to another's loss.

W-pI.185.5. To mean you want the peace of God is to renounce all dreams. 2 For no one

means these words who wants illusions, and who therefore seeks the means which bring

illusions. 3 He has looked on them, and found them wanting. 4 Now he seeks to go beyond them,

recognizing that another dream would offer nothing more than all the others. 5 Dreams are one to

him. 6 And he has learned their only difference is one of form, for one will bring the

same despair and misery as do the rest.

W-pI.185.6. The mind which means that all it wants is peace must join with other minds,

for that is how peace is obtained. 2 And when the wish for peace is genuine, the means

for finding it is given, in a form each mind that seeks for it in honesty can understand.

3 Whatever form the lesson takes is planned for him in such a way that he can not

mistake it, if his asking is sincere. 4 But if he asks without sincerity, there is no form in

which the lesson will meet with acceptance and be truly learned.

W-pI.185.7. Let us today devote our practicing to recognizing that we really mean the

words we say. 2 We want the peace of God. 3 This is no idle wish. 4 These words do not

request another dream be given us. 5 They do not ask for compromise, nor try to make another

bargain in the hope that there may yet be one that can succeed where all the rest have failed.

6 To mean these words acknowledges illusions are in vain, requesting the eternal in the

place of shifting dreams which seem to change in what they offer, but are one in

nothingness.

W-pI.185.8. Today devote your practice periods to careful searching of your mind, to

find the dreams you cherish still. 2 What do you ask for in your heart? 3 Forget the words

you use in making your requests. 4 Consider but what you believe will comfort you, and

bring you happiness. 5 But be you not dismayed by lingering illusions, for their form is not

what matters now. 6 Let not some dreams be more acceptable, reserving shame and secrecy

for others. 7 They are one. 8 And being one, one question should be asked of all of

them, "Is this what I would have, in place of Heaven and the peace of God?"

W-pI.185.9. This is the choice you make. 2 Be not deceived that it is otherwise. 3 No

compromise is possible in this. 4 You choose God's peace, or you have asked for dreams. 5 And

dreams will come as you requested them. 6 Yet will God's peace come just as certainly, and to

remain with you forever. 7 It will not be gone with every twist and turning of the road,

to reappear, unrecognized, in forms which shift and change with every step you take.

W-pI.185.10. You want the peace of God. 2 And so do all who seem to seek for dreams. 3

For them as well as for yourself, you ask but this when you make this request with deep

sincerity. 4 For thus you reach to what they really want, and join your own intent with what

they seek above all things, perhaps unknown to them, but sure to you. 5 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. 6 Help has been given you. 7 And would you

not avail yourself of it by sharing it?

W-pI.185.11. No one who truly seeks the peace of God can fail to find it. 2 For he

merely asks that he deceive himself no longer by denying to himself what is God's Will. 3 Who

can remain unsatisfied who asks for what he has already? 4 Who could be unanswered who

requests an answer which is his to give? 5 The peace of God is yours.

W-pI.185.12. For you was peace created, given you by its Creator, and established as

His Own eternal gift. 2 How can you fail, when you but ask for what He wills for you? 3

And how could your request be limited to you alone? 4 No gift of God can be unshared. 5 It

is this attribute that sets the gifts of God apart from every dream that ever seemed to

take the place of truth.

W-pI.185.13. No one can lose and everyone must gain whenever any gift of God has been

requested and received by anyone. 2 God gives but to unite. 3 To take away is meaningless to Him.

4 And when it is as meaningless to you, you can be sure you share one Will with Him,

and He with you. 5 And you will also know you share one Will with all your brothers, whose

intent is yours.

W-pI.185.14. 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. 2 With Help like this beside us, can we fail today as we request the peace of God

be given us?

LESSON 186.

Salvation of the world depends on me.

W-pI.186.1. Here is the statement that will one day take all arrogance away from every

mind. 2 Here is the thought of true humility, which holds no function as your own but that

which has been given you. 3 It offers your acceptance of a part assigned to you, without

insisting on another role. 4 It does not judge your proper role. 5 It but acknowledges the Will

of God is done on earth as well as Heaven. 6 It unites all wills on earth in Heaven's

plan to save the world, restoring it to Heaven's peace.

W-pI.186.2. Let us not fight our function. 2 We did not establish it. 3 It is not our

idea. 4 The means are given us by which it will be perfectly accomplished. 5 All that we

are asked to do is to accept our part in genuine humility, and not deny with

self-deceiving arrogance that we are worthy. 6 What is given us to do, we have the strength to do. 7

Our minds are suited perfectly to take the part assigned to us by One Who knows us well.

W-pI.186.3. Today's idea may seem quite sobering, until you see its meaning. 2 All it

says is that your Father still remembers you, and offers you the perfect trust He holds in

you who are His Son. 3 It does not ask that you be different in any way from what you are.

4 What could humility request but this? 5 And what could arrogance deny but this? 6

Today we will not shrink from our assignment on the specious grounds that modesty is

outraged. 7 It is pride that would deny the Call for God Himself.

W-pI.186.4. All false humility we lay aside today, that we may listen to God's Voice

reveal to us what He would have us do. 2 We do not doubt our adequacy for the function He

will offer us. 3 We will be certain only that He knows our strengths, our wisdom and our

holiness. 4 And if He deems us worthy, so we are. 5 It is but arrogance that judges otherwise.

W-pI.186.5. 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. 2 Accept the plan you did not make

instead. 3 Judge not your value to it. 4 If God's Voice assures you that salvation needs your

part, and that the whole depends on you, be sure that it is so. 5 The arrogant must cling

to words, afraid to go beyond them to experience which might affront their stance. 6 Yet

are the humble free to hear the Voice which tells them what they are, and what to do.

W-pI.186.6. Arrogance makes an image of yourself that is not real. 2 It is this image

which quails and retreats in terror, as the Voice for God assures you that you have the

strength, the wisdom and the holiness to go beyond all images. 3 You are not weak, as is the

image of yourself. 4 You are not ignorant and helpless. 5 Sin can not tarnish the truth in

you, and misery can come not near the holy home of God.

W-pI.186.7. All this the Voice for God relates to you. 2 And as He speaks, the image

trembles and seeks to attack the threat it does not know, sensing its basis crumble. 3 Let it

go. 4 Salvation of the world depends on you, and not upon this little pile of dust. 5

What can it tell the holy Son of God? 6 Why need he be concerned with it at all?

W-pI.186.8. And so we find our peace. 2 We will accept the function God has given us,

for all illusions rest upon the weird belief that we can make another for ourselves. 3 Our

self-made roles are shifting, and they seem to change from mourner to ecstatic bliss of

love and loving. 4 We can laugh or weep, and greet the day with welcome or with tears.

5 Our very being seems to change as we experience a thousand shifts in mood, and our

emotions raise us high indeed, or dash us to the ground in hopelessness.

W-pI.186.9. Is this the Son of God? 2 Could He create such instability and call it Son?

3 He Who is changeless shares His attributes with His creation. 4 All the images His

Son appears to make have no effect on what he is. 5 They blow across his mind like

wind-swept leaves that form a patterning an instant, break apart to group again, and scamper off.

6 Or like mirages seen above a desert, rising from the dust.

W-pI.186.10. These unsubstantial images will go, and leave your mind unclouded and

serene, when you accept the function given you. 2 The images you make give rise to but

conflicting goals, impermanent and vague, uncertain and ambiguous. 3 Who could be constant in his

efforts, or direct his energies and concentrated drive toward goals like these? 4 The

functions which the world esteems are so uncertain that they change ten times an hour at their

most secure. 5 What hope of gain can rest on goals like this?

W-pI.186.11. In lovely contrast, certain as the sun's return each morning to dispel the

night, your truly given function stands out clear and wholly unambiguous. 2 There is no

doubt of its validity. 3 It comes from One Who knows no error, and His Voice is certain

of Its messages. 4 They will not change, nor be in conflict. 5 All of them point to one

goal, and one you can attain. 6 Your plan may be impossible, but God's can never fail

because He is its Source.

W-pI.186.12. Do as God's Voice directs. 2 And if It asks a thing of you which seems

impossible, remember Who it is that asks, and who would make denial. 3 Then consider this; which

is more likely to be right? 4 The Voice that speaks for the Creator of all things, Who

knows all things exactly as they are, or a distorted image of yourself, confused, bewildered,

inconsistent and unsure of everything? 5 Let not its voice direct you. 6 Hear instead

a certain Voice, which tells you of a function given you by your Creator Who remembers

you, and urges that you now remember Him.

W-pI.186.13. His gentle Voice is calling from the known to the unknowing. 2 He would

comfort you, although He knows no sorrow. 3 He would make a restitution, though He is complete;

a gift to you, although He knows that you have everything already. 4 He has Thoughts

which answer every need His Son perceives, although He sees them not. 5 For Love must give,

and what is given in His Name takes on the form most useful in a world of form.

W-pI.186.14. These are the forms which never can deceive, because they come from

Formlessness Itself. 2 Forgiveness is an earthly form of love, which as it is in Heaven has no form.

3 Yet what is needed here is given here as it is needed. 4 In this form you can

fulfill your function even here, although what love will mean to you when formlessness has

been restored to you is greater still. 5 Salvation of the world depends on you who can

forgive. 6 Such is your function here.

LESSON 187.

I bless the world because I bless myself.

W-pI.187.1. No one can give unless he has. 2 In fact, giving is proof of having. 3 We

have made this point before. 4 What seems to make it hard to credit is not this. 5 No one

can doubt that you must first possess what you would give. 6 It is the second phase on

which the world and true perception differ. 7 Having had and given, then the world asserts

that you have lost what you possessed. 8 The truth maintains that giving will increase what

you possess.

W-pI.187.2. How is this possible? 2 For it is sure that if you give a finite thing away,

your body's eyes will not perceive it yours. 3 Yet we have learned that things but

represent the thoughts that make them. 4 And you do not lack for proof that when you give ideas

away, you strengthen them in your own mind. 5 Perhaps the form in which the thought seems

to appear is changed in giving. 6 Yet it must return to him who gives. 7 Nor can the form

it takes be less acceptable. 8 It must be more.

W-pI.187.3. Ideas must first belong to you, before you give them. 2 If you are to save

the world, you first accept salvation for yourself. 3 But you will not believe that this

is done until you see the miracles it brings to everyone you look upon. 4 Herein is the

idea of giving clarified and given meaning. 5 Now you can perceive that by your giving is

your store increased.

W-pI.187.4. Protect all things you value by the act of giving them away, and you are

sure that you will never lose them. 2 What you thought you did not have is thereby proven

yours. 3 Yet value not its form. 4 For this will change and grow unrecognizable in time,

however much you try to keep it safe. 5 No form endures. 6 It is the thought behind the form

of things that lives unchangeable.

W-pI.187.5. Give gladly. 2 You can only gain thereby. 3 The thought remains, and grows

in strength as it is reinforced by giving. 4 Thoughts extend as they are shared, for they

can not be lost. 5 There is no giver and receiver in the sense the world conceives of

them. 6 There is a giver who retains; another who will give as well. 7 And both must gain

in this exchange, for each will have the thought in form most helpful to him. 8 What he

seems to lose is always something he will value less than what will surely be returned to

him.

W-pI.187.6. Never forget you give but to yourself. 2 Who understands what giving means

must laugh at the idea of sacrifice. 3 Nor can he fail to recognize the many forms which

sacrifice may take. 4 He laughs as well at pain and loss, at sickness and at grief, at poverty,

starvation and at death. 5 He recognizes sacrifice remains the one idea that stands behind them

all, and in his gentle laughter are they healed.

W-pI.187.7. Illusion recognized must disappear. 2 Accept not suffering, and you remove

the thought of suffering. 3 Your blessing lies on everyone who suffers, when you choose to

see all suffering as what it is. 4 The thought of sacrifice gives rise to all the forms

that suffering appears to take. 5 And sacrifice is an idea so mad that sanity dismisses

it at once.

W-pI.187.8. Never believe that you can sacrifice. 2 There is no place for sacrifice in

what has any value. 3 If the thought occurs, its very presence proves that error has arisen

and correction must be made. 4 Your blessing will correct it. 5 Given first to you, it

now is yours to give as well. 6 No form of sacrifice and suffering can long endure before

the face of one who has forgiven and has blessed himself.

W-pI.187.9. The lilies that your brother offers you are laid upon your altar, with the

ones you offer him beside them. 2 Who could fear to look upon such lovely holiness? 3 The

great illusion of the fear of God diminishes to nothingness before the purity that you will

look on here. 4 Be not afraid to look. 5 The blessedness you will behold will take away all

thought of form, and leave instead the perfect gift forever there, forever to increase,

forever yours, forever given away.

W-pI.187.10. Now are we one in thought, for fear has gone. 2 And here, before the altar

to one God, one Father, one Creator and one Thought, we stand together as one Son of

God. 3 Not separate from Him Who is our Source; not distant from one brother who is part

of our one Self Whose innocence has joined us all as one, we stand in blessedness, and

give as we receive. 4 The Name of God is on our lips. 5 And as we look within, we see the

purity of Heaven shine in our reflection of our Father's Love.

W-pI.187.11. Now are we blessed, and now we bless the world. 2 What we have looked upon

we would extend, for we would see it everywhere. 3 We would behold it shining with the

grace of God in everyone. 4 We would not have it be withheld from anything we look upon. 5

And to ensure this holy sight is ours, we offer it to everything we see. 6 For where we

see it, it will be returned to us in form of lilies we can lay upon our altar, making it a

home for Innocence Itself, Who dwells in us and offers us His Holiness as ours.

LESSON 188.

The peace of God is shining in me now.

W-pI.188.1. Why wait for Heaven? 2 Those who seek the light are merely covering their

eyes. 3 The light is in them now. 4 Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all.

5 Light is not of the world, yet you who bear the light in you are alien here as well.

6 The light came with you from your native home, and stayed with you because it is your

own. 7 It is the only thing you bring with you from Him Who is your Source. 8 It shines

in you because it lights your home, and leads you back to where it came from and you

are at home.

W-pI.188.2. This light can not be lost. 2 Why wait to find it in the future, or believe

it has been lost already, or was never there? 3 It can so easily be looked upon that

arguments which prove it is not there become ridiculous. 4 Who can deny the presence of what he

beholds in him? 5 It is not difficult to look within, for there all vision starts. 6 There is

no sight, be it of dreams or from a truer Source, that is not but the shadow of the seen

through inward vision. 7 There perception starts, and there it ends. 8 It has no source but

this.

W-pI.188.3. The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around

the world. 2 It pauses to caress each living thing, and leaves a blessing with it that

remains forever and forever. 3 What it gives must be eternal. 4 It removes all thoughts of the

ephemeral and valueless. 5 It brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all vision

as it passes by. 6 All of its gifts are given everyone, and everyone unites in giving

thanks to you who give, and you who have received.

W-pI.188.4. The shining in your mind reminds the world of what it has forgotten, and

the world restores the memory to you as well. 2 From you salvation radiates with gifts

beyond all measure, given and returned. 3 To you, the giver of the gift, does God Himself

give thanks. 4 And in His blessing does the light in you shine brighter, adding to the

gifts you have to offer to the world.

W-pI.188.5. The peace of God can never be contained. 2 Who recognizes it within himself

must give it. 3 And the means for giving it are in his understanding. 4 He forgives

because he recognized the truth in him. 5 The peace of God is shining in you now, and in all

living things. 6 In quietness is it acknowledged universally. 7 For what your inward vision

looks upon is your perception of the universe.

W-pI.188.6. Sit quietly and close your eyes. 2 The light within you is sufficient. 3 It

alone has power to give the gift of sight to you. 4 Exclude the outer world, and let

your thoughts fly to the peace within. 5 They know the way. 6 For honest thoughts,

untainted by the dream of worldly things outside yourself, become the holy messengers of God

Himself.

W-pI.188.7. These thoughts you think with Him. 2 They recognize their home. 3 And they

point surely to their Source, Where God the Father and the Son are One. 4 God's peace is

shining on them, but they must remain with you as well, for they were born within your mind,

as yours was born in God's. 5 They lead you back to peace, from where they came but to

remind you how you must return.

W-pI.188.8. They heed your Father's Voice when you refuse to listen. 2 And they urge

you gently to accept His Word for what you are, instead of fantasies and shadows. 3 They

remind you that you are the co-creator of all things that live. 4 For as the peace of God is

shining in you, it must shine on them.

W-pI.188.9. We practice coming nearer to the light in us today. 2 We take our wandering

thoughts, and gently bring them back to where they fall in line with all the thoughts

we share with God. 3 We will not let them stray. 4 We let the light within our minds

direct them to come home. 5 We have betrayed them, ordering that they depart from us. 6 But

now we call them back, and wash them clean of strange desires and disordered wishes. 7 We

restore to them the holiness of their inheritance.

W-pI.188.10. Thus are our minds restored with them, and we acknowledge that the peace

of God still shines in us, and from us to all living things that share our life. 2 We

will forgive them all, absolving all the world from what we thought it did to us. 3 For it

is we who make the world as we would have it. 4 Now we choose that it be innocent, devoid

of sin and open to salvation. 5 And we lay our saving blessing on it, as we say:

6 The peace of God is shining in me now.

7 Let all things shine upon me in that peace, And let me bless them with the light in

me.

LESSON 189.

I feel the Love of God within me now.

W-pI.189.1. There is a light in you the world can not perceive. 2 And with its eyes you

will not see this light, for you are blinded by the world. 3 Yet you have eyes to see

it. 4 It is there for you to look upon. 5 It was not placed in you to be kept hidden from

your sight. 6 This light is a reflection of the thought we practice now. 7 To feel the

Love of God within you is to see the world anew, shining in innocence, alive with hope, and

blessed with perfect charity and love.

W-pI.189.2. Who could feel fear in such a world as this? 2 It welcomes you, rejoices

that you came, and sings your praises as it keeps you safe from every form of danger and of

pain. 3 It offers you a warm and gentle home in which to stay a while. 4 It blesses you

throughout the day, and watches through the night as silent guardian of your holy sleep.

5 It sees salvation in you, and protects the light in you, in which it sees its own. 6

It offers you its flowers and its snow, in thankfulness for your benevolence.

W-pI.189.3. This is the world the Love of God reveals. 2 It is so different from the

world you see through darkened eyes of malice and of fear, that one belies the other. 3 Only

one can be perceived at all. 4 The other one is wholly meaningless. 5 A world in which

forgiveness shines on everything, and peace offers its gentle light to everyone, is inconceivable

to those who see a world of hatred rising from attack, poised to avenge, to murder and

destroy.

W-pI.189.4. Yet is the world of hatred equally unseen and inconceivable to those who

feel God's Love in them. 2 Their world reflects the quietness and peace that shines in them;

the gentleness and innocence they see surrounding them; the joy with which they look