Introduction
1. We now begin a new review, this time with the awareness that we are preparing for the second part of a teaching through which we learn how truth can be applied.
²Today we begin to focus on becoming willing to receive what follows.
³This is our goal for this review and for the lessons to come.
⁴Therefore, we review the recent lessons and their central thoughts to help cultivate the willingness we now seek to achieve. I
2. There is one central theme that unifies every step of this review, and it can be simply stated in these words:
²My mind holds only what I think with God.II
³This is a fact, and it reflects the truth of what you are and of what your Father is.
⁴This is the Thought through which the Father gave Creation to the Son, establishing him as co-creator with Himself.
⁵This is the Thought that fully guarantees the salvation of the Son.
⁶For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares with him.
⁷It is unforgiveness that keeps this Thought from reaching his awareness.III
⁸Yet it remains eternally true.
3. Let us begin our preparation by seeking to understand the many forms in which the lack of true forgiveness can be carefully hidden.
²As illusions, they are not recognized for what they are.
³These forms taken by unforgiveness are defenses that protect your thoughts of grievance, keeping you from seeing them and recognizing them as such.
⁴Their purpose is to show you something else, so that instead of correcting them, you deceive yourself. IV
4. Yet your mind holds only what you think with God.
²The lies you tell yourself cannot take the place of truth.
³No more than a child who throws a stick into the ocean can alter the rhythm of the tides, stop the sun from warming the waters, or prevent the moon from silvering them by night.
⁴Thus, in this review we begin each practice period by preparing our mind to comprehend the lessons we read, and to understand the meaning they offer us.
5. Begin each day by taking time to prepare your mind to discover the freedom and peace the idea you will review can offer you.
²Open your mind, clear it of every deceptive thought, and devote it fully to this single Thought:
³My mind holds only what I think with God.
⁴Five minutes with this Thought will be enough to set the day in motion with God, and to let His Mind take charge of all the thoughts you will receive.
⁵They will not come from you alone, for you will share them with Him.
⁶And thus, each one of these thoughts will bring the message of His Love, and express your love for Him.
⁷In this way, you will enter into communion with the Lord of Hosts, just as He Himself has willed it to be. V
⁸And just as His own completion joins with Him, He will join with you, who are made complete as you unite with Him, and He with you.
6. After your preparation, simply read each of the two ideas assigned to you for review that day.
²Then close your eyes and repeat them slowly in silence.
³There is no rush now, for you are using time for the purpose for which it was created.
⁴Let each word shine with the meaning God has given it, for it has been given to you through His Voice.
⁵Accept the gift He has placed for you in every idea you review.
⁶And we will carry out all our practice in this one way:
7. Bring to mind each hour the Thought with which you began the day, and rest in it.
²Then slowly repeat the two ideas for the day, taking as much time as you need to see the gifts they hold for you, and let your mind receive them and place them where they belong.
8. We will add no other thoughts, but let the messages be what they are.
²We need no more than this to bring us happiness, rest, boundless quiet, perfect certainty, and everything our Father wills for us to receive as His inheritance.
9. We will conclude each daily review just as we began it, first repeating the Thought that made the day a special time of blessing and of happiness for us, and that through our renewed devotion has brought the world from darkness to light, from suffering to joy, from pain to peace, and from sin to holiness.
²God thanks you who practice in this way the keeping of His Word.
³And then, as you once again give your mind to the ideas of the day before sleeping, His gratitude will enfold you in the peace in which He wills for you to abide forever, and which you are now learning to reclaim again as your inheritance. VI
I Notice the emphasis placed on reaching a state of willingness to undertake the steps that follow. Jesus asks you to place all your good will in this task. Remember that this Course revolves around will, and now you are told that you must make use of it to approach the new objectives.
Be very honest with yourself and tell yourself the truth about what your priorities are in this life. Then, place your work with this Course within that scale of values you consider important: your family, your friends, your body, your work, your hobbies, your expectations—whatever they may be. Be completely sincere in doing this.
Realize that all those things you consider valuable are, in truth, illusions: they change with time, and a moment will come when they disappear from your life. They all form part of the bouquet of special love relationships the ego offers to distract your mind from the Love of God—the only Love that exists. All the love you think you see in those fantasies is nothing but an infinitesimal reflection of that Love, yet enmeshed in suffering, conflict, and lack.
Now do the following: regardless of the place you have thus far assigned to your Course practice, with the power of your will—and without regard at all for your preferences, desires, or likes—place your commitment to these practices at the very top of that scale; put it above everything else.
Again: it does not matter if you do not feel inclined or pleased to do so. It also does not matter if you think it is inconvenient, inappropriate, or will not benefit you. It does not matter. Do it!
Assign these practices the highest priority. Consider them more important to you than everything you possess—more important than your health, more important even than your life itself—and give them the corresponding treatment.
Exert yourself fully to do the exercises exactly as instructed, and to that end use solely and exclusively the power of your will. Do not worry at all if you believe you lack faith, trust, or devotion. That is of no importance whatsoever, because if you put your will to it as directed, it means you already possess great faith, trust, and devotion—even if you do not yet know it.
From now on you will begin to apply everything you have learned, and the most important thing of all is your willingness to listen to the Voice for God by silencing your mind, ceasing to give importance to your own thoughts. These will continue to come, but that does not matter either: simply pay them no attention and listen in the stillness. It is a very simple thing—but how hard it is to be simple, isn’t it? Do not worry: you have the rest of your earthly life to learn it. And be absolutely certain that it is the most joyous learning you have ever undertaken, and that it will bring you results beyond the reach of words.
You are beginning to relate to the unlimited part of your mind—the source of miracles, the dwelling place of God’s Love. You are taking your first steps into infinity. Prepare your heart for the most blissful surprise.
How blessed you are, my God!
II My mind holds only what I think with God, for that is the only real content that truly exists in the mind. Anything else your mind entertains is but an insubstantial fantasy; it is nothing.
Remember what is said in Lesson 8, paragraph 3: “The purpose of today’s exercises is to begin to train your mind to recognize when it is not really thinking at all. If you are thinking without meaning, you are blocking the truth. The first step in the undoing process is to recognize that your thoughts are meaningless, rather than to believe that they are real.”
The reason for this is clearly stated in the central idea of Lesson 10: “My thoughts do not mean anything.”
III This is because lack of forgiveness gives value and importance to resentful thoughts—fantasies, illusory interpretations of perception—that are without substance. The mind cannot simultaneously hold both truth and falsehood, and though this does not eliminate truth from the mind, it veils it with a dense covering and drives it into unconsciousness.
IV The sick mind’s will to separate from what it perceives requires a justification that form provides. Thus, the mind deceives itself by disguising what it perceives under multiple appearances whose purpose is to camouflage that single, permanent will to be separate from everything. The various forms, then, cannot be part of the perfect unity of the One Being and are perceived as something alien to oneself.
V Psalm 46:7 “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
The expression “Lord of hosts,” also translated as “Lord of armies,” is repeated throughout the Bible on numerous occasions and refers to the Power of God to command the angelic hosts of Heaven.
VI Here Jesus gives us a very simple and unequivocal instruction. It is simply to sink into stillness, calmly repeat the two ideas of the day, and allow them to settle in your mind. There is very little to do here—only to be willing and trusting that it will happen; nothing more.
That is why, throughout the next ten days, there will also be no supplementary explanatory notes.
In a way, this review marks a turning point in the practice of the Workbook, which now shifts from being speculative to being assertive. You are no longer asked to involve your mind in considerations belonging to your old way of thinking. It is assumed that you have done good work undoing your former thought system, and from now on you are invited to begin building upon the solid foundations of Reality.
LESSON 141
My mind holds only what I think with God.I
1. W-121 “Forgiveness is the key to happiness.”
2. W-122 “Forgiveness offers me everything I want.”
I Do not forget to repeat each hour: “My mind holds only what I think with God,” and say quietly to yourself the two ideas for today. Do not speculate about them; simply contemplate them calmly and offer them your love and your care. Do not judge them. Welcome them with tenderness of heart, and they will find their home in your mind.
Also, let these three ideas be your last thought before you fall asleep.