I am Spirit.
1. Today’s idea identifies you with your one Self. I
²It accepts no split identity, nor attempts to weave opposing factors into unity.
³It simply states the truth.
⁴Practice this truth today as often as you can, for it will bring your mind out of conflict and lead it into the calm fields of peace.
⁵Now no fear can enter, for your mind has been absolved of madness by abandoning the illusion of a divided identity.
2. Today we reaffirm the truth about your Self, the holy Son of God Who rests in you, whose mind has been restored to sanity.
2You are the Spirit, lovingly endowed with all the Love, the Peace, and the Joy of your Father.
3You are the Spirit Who completes God Himself, and Who shares His function as Creator.
4He is always with you, as you are always with Him.II
3. Today we seek to bring reality still closer to your mind.
²Each time you practice, you become at least a little more aware, and sometimes thousands of years or more are saved. III
³The minutes you give are multiplied again and again, for the miracle makes use of time but is not ruled by it.
⁴Salvation is a miracle—the first and the last.
⁵The first is also the last, for salvation is a miracle that is one.
4. You are the Spirit in Whose Mind the miracle in which all time stands still abides, the miracle in which one moment spent in using these ideas becomes a time of timelessness and infinite release.
2Give these minutes gladly, and count on Him Who promised to infuse them with eternity. IV
3He will strengthen every little effort you make with all His Strength.
4Give Him the minutes He needs today, that He may help you understand with Him that you are the Spirit who abides in God, who calls through His Voice to every living thing.
5He offers His Vision to all who ask, and replaces error with the simple truth.
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 seem to rule.
²He will not overlook one open mind that is ready to accept the healing gifts your practice brings and He will place them everywhere He knows they will be welcomed. V
3And every time someone accepts them as his thoughts and uses them to heal, their healing power will grow.
6. Thus will every gift you give be multiplied a thousandfold and tens of thousands more.
²And when it is returned to you, it will surpass in might the little gift you gave, just as the sun outshines a fading spark from a firefly that only lives a moment and is gone.
³The lasting brilliance of this light will stay with you, guiding you out of darkness, and you will never forget the way again.
7. Begin these happy exercises with the words the Holy Spirit speaks to you, and let them echo throughout the world through Him:
²I am Spirit,
³A holy Son of God,
⁴Free of all limits,
⁵Safe, healed and whole,
⁶Free to forgive,
⁷And free to save the world.
⁸And once you have expressed this, the Holy Spirit will accept the gift you received from Him, increase its power, and return it to you.
8. Gladly give Him each practice today.
²And He will speak to you, reminding you that you are Spirit, that you are one with Him and with God, with your brothers and with your Self.
3Listen to His promise every time you speak the words He gives you today, and let Him tell your mind they are the truth.
4Use them in every moment of uncertainty, and you will escape the mournful consequences of believing you are something else.
5The Holy Spirit brings you peace today.
6Receive His words, and offer them to Him.
I This is the fifth and final consecutive Lesson devoted to your One Self—a sign of the crucial importance the Course gives to this concept. This term expresses the consistency and integrity of your reality. You are much more than merely analogous to God; you are identical to Him, for you were created exactly in His image and likeness. You are His Extension, His beloved Son.
Being One—identical and forever unchangeable—alternatives are impossible, and with them, conflict and doubt. This is the perfect monopolarity of Existence, of What Is, of God, of what you are.
You are That: pure Being, Being pure. Your only function is to be What You Are—the perfect and sole expression of the three aspects of Being: Love, Knowledge, and Will, manifested without limit, infinitely and eternally. You love Reality with infinite love—all that exists—which is what you are and which you know perfectly, because it is your own Self, which you create in eternity by extending your own existence without end.
Words fall far too short to describe your Reality. That is your One Self. Your ego is utterly dazzled by even the faintest vision of your Self. And it cannot even be said that your light “dispels” the darkness of your ego, for there never was any darkness—only the faint belief that once there had been, in an illusory time. That is what you are: all that is, has been, and ever will be.
II Matthew 28:20 “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Amen.
III In the dream, a thousand years of sleep are saved; Reality continues within its own continuity. Reality is forever and ever.
IV Here—and in the three lines that follow—the reference is to the Holy Spirit.
V These lines highlight the importance and profound value of time dedicated to sincere contemplation and prayer. They remind us that any moment given to the Holy Spirit becomes a powerful instrument of healing for the world. Every receptive mind receives the benefit of such dedication, for mind—being shared—is positively influenced by the spiritual practice of a few.
In this sense, the quiet yet extraordinarily effective work of those who, like cloistered monks and nuns, offer their entire lives in contemplation and prayer stands out in particular. Their silent, constant, and humble commitment contributes significantly to transforming and healing the collective consciousness, thus expanding peace and alleviating suffering in a world where pain seems to predominate.