I Am Among the Ministers of God.
1. Let us be neither arrogant nor falsely humble today.
²We have moved beyond such foolishness.
³We cannot judge ourselves, nor is there any need to do so. I
⁴These are merely attempts to delay the decision and commitment to our function.
⁵It is not our place to judge our own worth.
⁶Nor can we know what role is best for us to play, or what we are capable of in a plan far beyond our understanding.
⁷Our part was created in Heaven, not in hell.
⁸And what we think is weakness may be strength, and what we see as strength is often arrogance.
2. Whatever role has been assigned to you was chosen by the Voice that speaks for God, whose function is also to speak for you.
²He sees your strengths exactly as they are, and knows as well where, when, how, and to whom they can best be applied.
³The Holy Spirit chooses and accepts your role on your behalf.
⁴He does not act without your consent.
⁵But He is not deceived about what you are, and listens only to His Own Voice in you.
3. It is through His ability to hear but one Voice—His own—that you at last become aware there is a Voice in you.
²And this single Voice assigns your function, tells you what it is, and gives you the strength to understand it, carry it out, and succeed in everything related to it.
³God joins His Son in this, and thus His Son becomes His messenger, proclaiming his unity with Him.
4. This joining of Father and Son through the Holy Spirit is what distinguishes salvation from the world.
²This Voice speaks of laws the world does not know.
³It is the Voice that promises release from every sin and the end of guilt in a mind God created sinless.
⁴Now this mind becomes aware again of Who created it, and of the everlasting union of its Creator with itself.
⁵Thus its Self becomes the only Reality where its will is joined with God’s.
5. A messenger does not choose the messages he brings.
²Nor does he question the right of him who gives the message, or ask why he has chosen those who are to receive it.
³It is enough that he accepts it, brings it to the ones for whom it is intended, and fulfills his role in its delivery.
⁴If he insists on determining what the messages should be, what their purpose is, or where they should be delivered, he is no longer acting as the bearer of the Word.
6. There is a crucial difference in the role of the messengers of Heaven that sets them apart from those the world appoints.
²The messages they bring are meant first for themselves.
³And only if they accept them for themselves are they able to bring them further, and deliver them to all those for whom they are intended.
⁴Like worldly messengers, they did not write the messages they carry. But without question, they are the first to receive them, for they accept them in order to prepare themselves to give them.
7. A worldly messenger fulfills his role by delivering all the messages.
²God’s messengers fulfill theirs by accepting His messages as meant for themselves, and showing they understand them by giving them away.
³They do not choose any role that has not been assigned by His authority.
⁴And so they, too, benefit with every message they deliver.
8. Do you want to receive the messages of God?
²For that is how you become His messenger.
³You have already been appointed.
⁴But you delay in giving the messages you have received, and so you do not know that you have them, or recognize them.
⁵No one can receive or know he has received something until he gives it.
⁶For only in giving can he prove to himself that he has accepted what was given him.
9. You, who are now God’s messenger, receive His messages, for that is part of the role that has been given you.
²God has already given you what you need, and you have accepted it.
³But you still must fulfill the other part of your task.
⁴He who has received the messages of God for you desires that you receive them fully now as well.
⁵For in this way you identify with Him and recognize as yours the gifts He gives.
10. This union is what we seek to recognize today.
²We will not try to keep our minds apart from Him Who speaks for us, for it is our very own Voice we hear when we listen to Him.
³Only He can speak to us and speak for us, joining in one Voice the giving and receiving of God’s Word; the giving and receiving of His Will.
11. Today we practice giving Him what He would have, so that we may recognize the gifts He has given us.
²He needs our voice, that He may speak through us.
³He needs our hands to bring His messages to those He points out.
⁴He needs our feet to lead us where He wills, so that those who wait in misery may at last be released.
⁵And He needs our will, united with His Own, that we may truly receive the gifts He gives.
12. Let us learn but this today:
²We do not recognize what we have received until we give it.
³You have heard this in a hundred ways, a hundred times, yet you still do not believe it. II
⁴But know this: until you do, you will receive a thousand and then ten thousand miracles, yet you will not know that God Himself has left no gift but that He gave it to His Son, nor has denied the slightest blessing to His one beloved Son.
⁵What meaning would this hold for you, unless you identified with him and with all that is his?
13. Our lesson for today is stated thus:
²I am among the ministers of God.
³And I am thankful that I have the means by which to recognize that I am free.
14. The world recedes as our minds are lit with this truth, and we acknowledge that these holy words are true.
²They are the message our Creator sends today.
³Now we will demonstrate how His Word has changed our minds about ourselves, and about our function.
⁴For by refusing to accept any will we do not share, the countless gifts of our Creator become visible before our eyes, flow forth from our hands, and we clearly recognize all that we have received.
I Probably the most difficult thing for every student of thisCourse to accept and embrace in its teaching is the relinquishment of their own judgment for evaluating anything that crosses their mind. It is normal for this to arouse great apprehension and resistance. And this is because it completely contradicts what the world constantly urges you to do: to take control of your life and be responsible for your own decisions.
It may seem as though this Course intends to restrict your freedom, impose upon you a will not your own, and turn you into a mindless zombie in the service of an entity you do not know, which offers you illusory rewards for your servitude. You may think that this Course is brainwashing you.
In a sense, you are not far from the truth. This Course is indeed attempting to wash your brain. But as for turning you into a zombie—no; that is impossible. You already are a zombie.
Perhaps you think that now you are free, that you make your decisions with complete independence, and that you do whatever you please. Nothing could be further from the truth. What actually happens is that you have no idea what you are, you do not know what the mind is, and you are totally unaware of how it functions. In fact, you usually refer to it as “my mind,” as if it were some sort of instrument at your service for your own purposes, which you control at will.
How confused you are!
You do not have a mind. You are your mind!
There is no one and nothing that controls your mind, for the simple reason that there is nothing apart from your mind. Your mind is all there is. Notice how absurd it is to think that you control your mind, for that would imply that this “you” is another mind controlling your mind—which is utter nonsense.
Think instead in these terms: your one mind—which is the only thing that exists and which is what you are—can function well or can function poorly. It can believe it is alone and separate from everything, within a fragile and mortal body, and in a dangerous world in which it must struggle to survive… for a while. Or it can believe that this is a bad dream from which it must awaken to its glorious condition.
These are the only two alternatives you can believe in. And the very fact that you believe you have alternatives shows clearly that you are still dreaming, for when you cease to dream you will have the certainty of true knowledge, in which one cannot believe in alternatives, for it is a state of perfect certainty. The condition of that state you cannot even imagine, precisely because you are dreaming; if you could see it, you would already be awake.
In your current dream state, your only freedom is to decide which dream you choose: the dream of the world or the dream of the Atonement. It does not matter which you choose—you will still be dreaming. But your dreams will, indeed, be very different. Understand that both dreams are automatic, in the sense that they unfold on their own without your intervention. You are not at all responsible for what happens in either of them, for once you choose one, it unfolds according to its own dynamic. Yet what you can and must do is firmly choose between the two. You already know where the ego’s dream leads.
The dream of the Atonement is still unknown to you, but have faith in Jesus, believe his words, and trust: it will not be long before you are convinced that he speaks the truth. To waver between these two alternatives will weaken you, plunge you into uncertainty, and cause you to waste your precious time.
Today’s lesson urges you, as they all do, to choose well. But since you have already come a certain distance, you are now invited to take on decisively the role of messenger of the Word you already know. It is yours now. You are being asked to communicate it, to reinforce it in your mind so that you may make your own the infinite gifts it contains. You are strongly reminded that you will enjoy them only when you give them wholeheartedly to others. Then you will see that you already have them.
That does not mean you should take to the streets with the blue book in your hand. No. The Voice of your Teacher will tell you precisely what to do, through the people and circumstances placed before you so that you may express your truth to them. And the only testimony you can offer is that of your gentleness and your certainty of being happy and safe in your Father’s arms.
II The idea that giving and receiving are the same is one of theCourse’s most frequently repeated themes. For example, in theWorkbook for Students we find the following references to this principle in the group of lessons preceding the Fourth Review:
W-121.9:1: “A mind that cannot forgive cannot believe that giving and receiving are the same.”
W-122.6:4: “As you give, so shall you receive.”
W-126: “All that I give is given to myself.” This idea is crucial for achieving the reversal of thinking that this Course proposes.
W-126.7:5: “And true forgiveness… must heal the mind that gives, for giving and receiving are the same.”
W-134.8:5: “For if a brother has received this gift from you, the door is open to you.”
In the Text, too, there are countless references to the idea that giving and receiving are the same.
Here a greater truth is revealed: you are not here by chance. You are not lost. You have been chosen. And a holy function has been entrusted to you. That does not make you special, but it does make you responsible. All have been called, but only those who respond begin to awaken.
This world is not your home, but it is here that you must fulfill your mission. And that mission is to remember who you are, by teaching it. For teaching is nothing but remembering. And remembering is healing. But you will not heal alone; you will heal by giving. Each time you give a true thought, that thought is strengthened in you. Only what is not given is lost.
Today you are told that you are a minister of God. What does that mean? That you have accepted to carry the messages of Love—not because you fully understand them, but because you yourself need them. You give them because they are for you. And in giving them, you receive them. You do not have to convince anyone. You only have to be the clear channel through which the message is transmitted. And for that, you are asked but one thing: trust.
Trust what you do not understand. Trust the Voice that speaks for you. Trust that everything will be given to you when you need it. Your part is minimal: be willing. He will take care of the rest.