I Am Entitled to Miracles.
1. You are entitled to miracles because of what you are.
²You will receive miracles because of what God is.
³And you will offer miracles because you are one with Him.
⁴Once again, how simple salvation is! I
⁵It is merely a statement of your true identity.
⁶And this is what we celebrate today.
2. Your entitlement to miracles is not based on the illusions you hold about yourself.
²It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any rituals you have devised. II
³It is inherent in the truth of what you are.
⁴It is implicit in what God, your Father, is.
⁵Your entitlement to miracles was established in your creation, and it is guaranteed by the Laws of God.
3. Today we will claim the miracles to which you are entitled, for they belong to you.
²You have been promised full release from the world you made.
³And you have also been assured that the Kingdom of God is within you, and that you can never lose it. III
⁴Today we ask only for what truly belongs to us.
⁵But we will also make sure we do not settle for less.
4. Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself with absolute confidence that you are entitled to miracles.
²Close your eyes and remember that you are only asking for what is rightfully yours.
³Remind yourself, too, that miracles are never taken from one to give to another, and that by claiming your rights you are upholding the rights of everyone.
⁴Miracles do not obey the laws of this world.
⁵They simply arise from the Laws of God.
5. After this brief introductory phase, wait in silence for the assurance that your request has been granted.
²You have asked for the salvation of the world and for your own.
³You have requested the means by which this can be accomplished.
⁴It is impossible that this be denied you.
⁵You are merely asking that God’s Will be done.
6. In doing this, you are actually asking for nothing.
²You are simply stating an undeniable fact.
³The Holy Spirit can only assure you that your request is granted.
⁴The fact that you accepted this entitlement confirms it.
⁵There is no room today for doubt or uncertainty.
⁶At last, we are asking for something real.
⁷And the answer is the simple statement of a very simple fact.
⁸So you will receive the confirmation you seek.
7. Our shorter practice periods will be frequent, and will also serve to remind us of this simple fact.
²Repeat often today:
³I am entitled to miracles.
⁴Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are needed. IV
⁵You will recognize these situations perfectly. V
⁶And since you do not rely on yourself to find the miracles, you are fully entitled to receive them whenever you ask.
⁷Also remember that you must not be content with anything less than the perfect answer.
⁸If temptation strikes, do not hesitate to tell yourself at once:
⁹I will not trade miracles for grievances.
¹⁰I want only what is mine.
¹¹For God has established that I am entitled to miracles.
I W-76.2:3 “Today’s idea tells you once again how simple salvation is.”
II Here, you ascribe the magical powers to yourself—to your ego—instead of to matter (see the explanatory note on magic from the previous Lesson). To believe that you (the ego) possess the “magical power” to work miracles (for example, to heal a body) is essentially the same as thinking that a certain medicine can heal it. Both your ego and the medicine are illusions, just as the body that the mind considers sick is an illusion. There is no other relationship among them than the one the mind itself establishes by believing in it.
You do not have, nor can you have, “magical powers.” The only real power of the mind is the power to create, which God endowed it with at its creation. The mind can pervert that power of creation and, instead of extending its own loving identity, it can believe whatever it wishes and make the effects of its belief—the illusions—“real” to itself.
The “magical rituals” are the fanciful stories the mind tells itself, describing the supposed cause-and-effect relationships in which it believes. These stories may be of a metaphysical nature, and we call them “witchcraft,” or of a physical nature, and we call them “science.”
In both cases, they could be regarded as a form of literature or poetry that reveals the creative character of the mind; they are descriptions of the cause-and-effect relationships the mind arbitrarily establishes and believes in because of their reliability. This reliability is grounded in their repetitive character and is the result of the mind’s own persistence in its narrative.
Obviously, this reliability in no way establishes their validity (review Chapter 2 of the Text to recall the concepts of reliability and validity).
These rituals—these descriptions—require a certain consistency and stability in order to be believable, though they are usually of an “evolutionary” nature. In scientific terms, that evolution is called “scientific progress.”
III Luke 17:21 “Neither shall they say, ‘Lo here!’ or ‘Lo there!’ For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
IV Pay very close attention to today’s Lesson! It is very different from all the previous ones. Today marks the beginning of a new phase of our learning.
Remember Miracle Principle 7: “Everyone is entitled to miracles. But before this is possible, a purification is necessary.” Well then, that purification is precisely what we have been doing throughout the preceding Lessons.
Today Jesus releases us into the world for the first time and encourages us to ask for miracles. But notice carefully—it is about asking for a miracle in a situation of conflict; you are not told to go and perform one on your own, for if you did so, it would be the ego attributing to itself “magical powers.”
Today is a very special day. Until now we have been preparing; today we begin to act as miracle workers.
The situation is very simple: we are always choosing between two options. On the “passive” level, we choose between listening to the ego’s voice or the Voice of the Holy Spirit; on the “active” level, we choose between “fixing” what seems to be “wrong” or performing miracles.
In reality, it is a single choice concerning our very identity, concerning the idea we hold about ourselves. We choose between truth and error, between light and darkness, between joy and suffering, between being a body or being the Son of God.
The choice is very simple, very easy, and very clear—can there be any doubt about it?
Today’s Lesson is a true marvel that calls you to trust and to faith in God’s Power to resolve every situation. Do not be afraid; trust. The world you see is a dream of the mind.
What the mind beholds “outside” itself is, in reality, its own attitude—a projection of itself that appears “out there,” yet in truth is “within,” for there is nothing that is not the mind. Therefore, after asking for a miracle, what you will behold is your own flawless attitude.
It is reasonable to tell yourself that all this, for now, is only a hypothesis. It is legitimate to think so and absolutely understandable. What is not reasonable, logical, or understandable is to fail to put all your heart and all your will into trying.
Try it today with all your heart. Refuse to condemn, and ask that a miracle perfectly resolve every problematic situation that arises for you—and then remain very alert and wait.
Be very honest and try to be a little lucid in evaluating the results. They may not be what you expected, but a pure heart always calls forth Heaven’s light, and Heaven always responds.
V These are all the situations in which you perceive conflict. Obviously, the conflict is in your mind, and you experience discomfort. Your heart warns you: “Something is wrong in your mind.” Your mind needs healing—and then you ask for a miracle, that is, you ask to see it differently.
Realize that the miracle is not to heal the world, because the world does not exist! Miracles are to heal your mind; then your mind will change, and you will think differently. And since you are not the only one who experiences the effects of your way of thinking (W-18), everything will change with you.