Author: gongarola@gmail.com

Now we are One with Him Who is our Source.^I

1. What other time but now can Truth be recognized?

²The present is the only time there is.

³That is why today, in this very instant, now, we will behold what has forever been—not with our eyes, but with the eyes of Christ.

⁴He looks beyond all time, and sees eternity reflected there.

⁵He hears the sounds the busy, senseless world produces, yet hears them faintly.

⁶For beyond them all He hears the song of Heaven and the Voice for God more clearly, with deeper meaning, and much closer to Him.

2. The world fades easily before His gaze.

²Its sounds grow dim.

³A melody from far beyond the world grows ever stronger.

⁴It is an ancient call to which Christ gives an ancient answer.

⁵You will recognize them both,

⁶for they are but your own response to your Father’s Call.

⁷Christ answers for you, echoing your Self, using your voice to give His glad consent, accepting your release for you.

3. How holy is your practice today, for Christ gives you His vision, hears for you, and answers in your name the Call He hears.

²How still the time you spend with Him beyond the world.

³How easily you will forget all your seeming sins and sorrows.

⁴You will let go of every grief today, for sights and sounds that come to you from nearer than the world are clear to you, who are ready now to accept the gifts Christ offers.

4. There is a silence that the world cannot intrude upon.

²There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost.

³There is a sense of holiness in you untouched by any thought of sin.

⁴Today you will remember all of this.

⁵Your faithfulness in practice will bring rewards so great and so completely different from all the things you once pursued that you will know, at last, where lies your treasure and your rest.

5. This is the day when all the idle images are put aside like a veil lifted to reveal what lies behind. ^II

²Now what is truly there becomes visible, and the shadows that once seemed to hide it vanish into nothing.

³Now the balance is restored, and judgment is left to Him Who judges in the light of Truth.

⁴And His decision shows a world of perfect innocence before your eyes.

⁵Now you will look upon it with the eyes of Christ.

⁶Now you can clearly see its transformation.

6. Brother, this is a holy day for the world.

²Your vision, given you from far beyond all things of earth, now looks upon them in a new light.

³And what you see becomes the healing and the salvation of the world.

⁴What is truly valuable and what is not are both perceived and clearly recognized.

⁵What is worthy of your Love receives it, and nothing remains that could inspire fear.

7. Today we will not judge.

²Today we will but receive what comes from Judgment made beyond the world.

³Our practice becomes our gift of thanks for our release from blindness and from pain.

⁴All things we see will but increase our joy, because their holiness reflects our own.

⁵Christ looks on us as He forgives us, and we behold the world as He beholds it.

⁶We bless the world as we look upon it through the light with which Christ looks on us.

⁷And we offer it the freedom we have now received through His forgiving eyes.

8. Lift up the veil in your practice today by simply letting go of all the things you think you want.

²Forget your trivial treasures, and leave a clean and open space in your mind where Christ can come and offer you the treasure of salvation.

³He needs your most holy mind to save the world.

⁴Is this not a purpose worthy of you?

⁵Do you not think the vision of Christ is worth far more than the pursuit of worldly goals that cannot satisfy?

9. Do not let this day slip by without accepting and being grateful for the gifts it brings.

²If you acknowledge them, we can change the world.

³You may not see how much today’s acceptance brings the world in value.

⁴But surely you do want to change all suffering for joy, today.

⁵Practice with earnestness, and the gift is yours.

⁶Would God deceive you?

⁷Do you think He would fail to keep His promise?

⁸Will you deny Him what He asks, when in His Hands He offers His Son complete salvation?

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^I This Lesson is a hymn to Unity. If the previous one reminded you that you are as God created you, this one shows you that you are not alone, nor could you ever be. It is a subtle yet profound shift—from inner recognition to true communion. Here, it is not about reaffirming yourself, but about opening yourself. Not about containing the truth, but about surrendering to It. Today you do not walk alone; today you walk with God.

It is about a relationship—the holy relationship that fills everything and finally answers your deepest longing. For yes, that yearning you carry within you—which sometimes feels like desire, sometimes like sorrow, at other times like need—is a cry of your soul longing to return Home. And this Lesson tells you: do not deny it, do not hide it, do not try to appease it with substitutes. Attend to it, acknowledge it, and place it in the Hands of the One who can fulfill it.

The Course tells you today that this is a sacred day. That your practice is holy. That there is an ancient peace within your heart, waiting to be discovered. But for that, you need faithfulness—not perfection, not heroism, but faithfulness. Practice with your heart, not with your head. Do not judge the worth of your efforts, nor measure your progress. Simply be faithful. And the gift will be yours.

Here separation ends. Here the veil is lifted. Today, what has always been there becomes visible. For you choose to see. You choose to be in the Presence. And that single decision transforms the world. You do not need to understand how. You need only open yourself.

And then the miracle happens: you cease to feel small, limited, unworthy. And you recognize that you have full right to perfect holiness—not because you have earned it, but because it is yours by nature. And in that recognition, you bring salvation to all. You need not say anything. Your mere presence is enough. For the world sees in you a reflection of what it, too, is.

This Lesson is the answer to the deepest yearning of the human heart: not to be alone. Today God says to you, “I am with you.” And you say, “Yes, I am with You too.” And in that silent exchange, all worlds are saved.

^II Before us today we have another beautiful Lesson urging you to seek the vision of Christ beyond your personal interests. Today is a day to place all your will and all your heart in seeing a different world. And achieving this is very simple: you need do nothing; you need only step aside, stop judging, and fervently ask for a new way of seeing. Nothing else is required. Anything else would only interfere with this holy purpose.

Does it seem difficult to stop judging? Does it seem difficult to stop desiring things that are utterly incapable of making you happy? Why does it seem so? Do you think you lack the will to accomplish it?

Do not deceive yourself: everyone, at every moment, possesses all the will that exists. Perhaps what you lack is the will to use it. Look closely.

Will is one of the three aspects of Being—Love, Knowledge, and Will—and it is fully present in all that exists. Although these three aspects are equally consubstantial with Existence, with Being, it could be said that both Knowledge and Will proceed, in a sense, from Love. Love necessarily engenders Knowledge and the Will to create, and without Love it is impossible to know or to do anything.

Bear in mind also that the relationships among the three aspects of Being are reciprocal, so that any of them can be promoted and engendered by the others. Thus, to know something leads to loving it, and inevitably you love what you truly know—just as you can also direct your will toward loving.

Therefore, the question you must ask yourself is not whether you have will or not, but whether you love or do not love. Ask yourself where your love lies, and you will know what you will do, create, and achieve. Be very honest about this, and you will spare yourself much regret, for then you will understand why you see what you see and why your life is as it is.

Love. Open your heart and love. Life is very simple—just love. You need do nothing more than that, for there is nothing apart from that.

Death is not real. The Son of God is free.

1. Death is a thought that takes on many forms, often unrecognized.

²The idea of death can appear as sadness, fear, anxiety, or doubt.

³Every expression of anger, lack of faith, and distrust is also death.

⁴So, too, is concern for the body, envy, and every attitude in which the wish to be what you are not might tempt you.

⁵All these thoughts are but reflections of the worship of death as savior and deliverer. ^I

2. As the embodiment of fear, the host of sin, the god of the guilty, and the ruler of all illusions and deceit, the thought of death seems very powerful.

²It seems to clutch in its withered hand all living things, all hope and all desire, in its choking grasp, and every goal appears through its blind eyes.

³The weak, the helpless, and the sick bow down before its image, believing it alone is real, inevitable, and worthy of their trust.

⁴For death is the only thing that is certain to arrive.

3. All things, except death, are thought to be uncertain, and are lost too soon no matter how hard they are earned.

²Their outcome is unsure; they tend to betray the hopes they once inspired and leave behind the taste of dust and ashes instead of dreams and aspirations.

³But death is counted on.

⁴For it will come with steady pace when its time has come.

⁵It never fails to show up, taking hostage all that lives.

4. Would you bow before such an idol?

²For in it, you behold the Strength and Power of God Himself in an idol made of dust.

³In it, you proclaim that the opposite of God is lord of all creation, stronger than His Will for Life, and mightier than infinite Love and the perfect, changeless constancy of Heaven.

⁴So, the Will of the Father and of the Son has been at last overcome, and buried beneath the gravestone death has laid upon the body of God’s holy Son.

5. Now, defiled in his defeat, the Son has become what death would make of him.

²On his epitaph, written by death itself, his name is not even mentioned, for he has become but dust. ^II

³It says only this: “Here lies a witness that God is dead.” ^III

⁴And this it writes again and again, while all its worshipers bow down and, with foreheads pressed against the ground, whisper in fear that it is so.

6. It is impossible to worship death in any form and still select a few you do not want and would avoid, while keeping faith in the rest.

²For death is total.

³Either all things die, or else they live and cannot die.

⁴There is no halfway point.

⁵For once again we stand before a simple choice we must accept, if we are sane:

⁶What contradicts completely any thought cannot be true, unless the thought itself is false.

7. The idea that God is dead is so ridiculous that even the insane find it hard to believe.

²For it means He once lived, and somehow perished, slain by those who did not want Him to survive. ^IV

³Their will, more powerful than His, could triumph over Him, and so eternal life gave way to death.

⁴And with the Father died the Son as well.

8. Those who worship death may be afraid.

²But could they truly fear such an idea?

³If they saw what they believe for what it is, they would be instantly set free.

⁴And this is what you will reveal to them today.

⁵Death is not real, and we now renounce it in all its forms, for their salvation and for our own. ^V

⁶God did not create death.

⁷Therefore, whatever form it takes must be illusion.

⁸This is the stand we take today.

⁹And by it, we are given power to look beyond death and behold the Life that lies beyond.

9. Our Father,

bless our eyes today.

²We are Your messengers,

and we long to see the glorious reflection of Your Love shining in all things.^VI

³We live and breathe in You alone.

⁴We have not left Your Eternal Life.^VII

⁵Death is not real,

⁶For death is not Your Will.

⁷And we abide where You have placed us,

⁸In the Life we share with You

and with all living things,

to be like You

and part of You forever.

⁹We accept as ours Your Thoughts,

and our will is eternally One with Yours.

Amen.

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^I Before you lies one of the most luminous Lessons in thisWorkbook. Its power rests in the precise description of how the world shrinks, intimidated by the idea of death, which relentlessly annihilates every aspiration to existence. It is an exact narrative of the general human feeling, one that touches the deepest core, for to the idea of death the world offers no alternative. It is the logical conclusion of the depressing thought that gave rise to it in the first place: a dead end.

Death is not a fact; it is an attitude toward life. It is the final point of the sad story of a mind that hides from its true condition and takes refuge in the pathetic illusory tale of what the world calls “life.” For one dies as one lives.

Perhaps the most revealing part of this Lesson is its first paragraph, in which death is equated with all that denotes the absence of Love. This is perfectly logical: if Love is Life, its absence can only be the absence of Life—that is, death. If we were created by Infinite Love through the extension of Its Own Being, then to Love and to Live are the same. To live without Love is a contradiction—nothing but an illusion, an expression of death.

Death is the great farce of the ego, its most macabre joke. Why such persistence in maintaining it? Because as long as you believe in death, you cannot remember who you are. If you believe in death, you are denying God. There is no middle ground. You cannot serve two masters. You either choose Life or embrace fear. For the fear of death is, at its core, fear of Life. The ego fears Life because it cannot control it. That is why it invents death: an illusory refuge to avoid awakening.

This Lesson calls you to recognize that every form of suffering—sadness, sickness, sacrifice, loss—is an expression of the worship of death. Yet it does not ask you to fight it, but to undo it with the light of your mind. For when you choose Life, you become a living witness of Love. No proclamations are needed; your presence is enough. The mind that has been healed radiates eternity. And that heals.

All Creation proceeds from Love. Only one who Loves can Create. Only one who Loves can Teach. Only one who Loves can Heal. Only one who Loves can bring forth anything that, in any way, reflects the Love of God. All Worth comes from Love, and that which does not express Love is worthless, is nothing, and does not exist. Outside of Love there are only nightmares.

Death, like everything that can be perceived, is a symbol. But a symbol of an impossible idea. This world is made of absences of Love, and death is the symbol of the absence of Life. To perceive is to regard absences and take them as real; therefore, the world is nothing but the denial of Heaven.

Even in this world you can have a good “life.” This Course calls that “happy dreams”: illusions managed with Love. And that Love which you invest there, you will see reflected. It is a trampoline illusion, whose sole function is to lead you back to the Heart of God. That is the true Art of Living while you believe you are here: to use illusion to go beyond it.

Do you want to do something truly useful for this insane world? Stop believing in death. Do not reinforce weakness. Do not join in the weeping—offer your strength instead. For if you fall, they fall with you. But if you choose Life, you open a door through which they, too, may pass. That is your function: to remember that we are alive, that we are free, that death never existed.

^II Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

^III This Lesson was dictated in April 1970, following the famous theological movement of the “Death of God” in the 1960s. The April 8, 1966, cover of Time magazine asked: “Is God Dead?” and the accompanying article addressed both the growing atheism in the United States and the rising popularity of the theology of the death of God. Much time has passed since then, but the idea of the death of God has not been overcome; rather, it has been absorbed. We live in profane times.

^IV The idea that God has died because He was “killed… by those who did not want Him to survive” is possibly a reference to the influential passage of the nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, often credited with popularizing the notion of the death of God: “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed Him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us?” (The Gay Science, Section 125).

^V Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever; the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will remove from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”

1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”

2 Timothy 1:10 “But now has been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.”

^VI Acts 17:28 “…for in Him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are His offspring.’”

^VII Proverbs 12:28 “In the way of righteousness there is life; in its path there is no death.”

I am as God created me.

1. If you just held this thought firmly in your mind, the world would be saved. ^I

²We will repeat it from time to time as we reach new levels of learning.

³And as you advance, it will take on greater meaning for you.

⁴These words are sacred, for they are the ones God gave in answer to the world you made.

⁵When they are spoken, the world disappears, and all things seen in its hazy and vaporous illusions vanish.

⁶For these words come from God.

2. This is the Word by which the Son became the joy of His Father, His Love, and His Completion.

²With them, Creation is proclaimed and honored as it truly is.

³There is no dream these words will not dispel.

⁴There is no thought of sin, nor illusion held within that dream, which does not fade before their power.

⁵They are the trumpet of awakening sounding across the world. ^II

⁶The dead arise in answer to their call.

⁷And those who live and hear this sound shall never see death. _III

3. Holy indeed is he who makes these words his own; who awakens with them in his mind, remembers them throughout the day, and takes them with him as he goes to sleep.

²His dreams are happy, his rest is sure, his safety certain, and his body healed, because he sleeps and wakes with truth always before him.

³And he will save the world, because he gives it what he receives each time he practices the words of truth.

4. Our practice today is very simple.

²For the words we use are mighty and need no added thoughts to change the mind of him who uses them. ^IV

³The mind is changed so thoroughly that it becomes the treasure house in which God places all His Gifts and all His Love, to be distributed to all the world.

⁴These gifts increase as they are given, and the mind remains forever full because it shares without end.

⁵And thus you learn to think with God.

⁶Christ’s vision has restored your sight by setting your mind free.

5. Today we honor you.

²For you have every right to claim the perfect holiness you now accept.

³By accepting it, you bring salvation to all, for who could continue to value sin when such holiness blesses the world?

⁴Who could despair when you are perfectly joyful and stand ready to bring relief from sorrow, misery, and every sense of loss, offering to all complete release from sin and guilt?

6. And who could now be anything but your brother—you, who are his redeemer and his Savior?

²Who would not lovingly open his heart to you, longing to unite with one as holy as himself?

³You are as God created you.

⁴These words dispel the night, and darkness is no more.

⁵Today, the Light has come to bless the world, for you have recognized the Son of God, and in doing so, the world has recognized him as well.

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^I This statement is God’s Answer to the idea of separation. In it is condensed the entire function of the Holy Spirit: to remind you who you are. It is impossible to express in words the importance of this declaration in the ordering of your holy mind. One could say, without exaggeration, that it is the most significant statement in the entireCourse. When you succeed not only in keeping it present in your mind but in making it absolutely true for you, you will not simply be advancing—you will be standing before the gates of Heaven. And the radiance that shines from beyond them will set your heart ablaze.

“I am as God created me” is not a pretty phrase nor a mantra for difficult times. It is an atomic bomb against the ego. A categorical denial of every lie you ever believed about yourself. And if it does not transform you, it is because you are not saying it from the source of power: your will. You may repeat it a thousand times, but if you do not say it wholeheartedly, nothing happens. The Course is not magic. It is honesty.

Do you want to know if you are practicing it correctly? Ask yourself whether you feel fear. For this idea purifies the mind. A mind that lives in this certainty knows neither threat, nor sadness, nor conflict. It sees everything with a smile. And not because everything goes well, but because it knows nothing can affect it. That is how radical it is. That is how simple.

This is not about making a space for the Course in your schedule. It is about surrendering your entire schedule to it. This lesson does not want five minutes of your day. It wants your life. For if you truly believe it, there is nothing else to do. Everything you do, you will do from it. And that changes everything.

This statement answers the old aphorism: “Know thyself.” For to truly know yourself is to remember that you are the Son of God. And that remembrance, when complete, makes it impossible for anything to disturb you. Then indeed you are out of the world—even though you still walk within it.

^II Joel 2:1 “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh is coming, for it is near.”

1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

^III John 8:51 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever keeps My word will never see death.”

John 11:25–26 “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’”

^IV Today, simply keep this powerful idea fixed in your mind. Repeat it constantly and set your will, with determination, on planting it in the deepest part of your heart. Today, set your will on believing this idea.

You think your beliefs come from your freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everything you now believe comes from the whims of the ego and has absolutely nothing to do with you. The problem is that you do not understand what freedom is. Freedom is the condition, the power, or the capacity to be what you are, and thus to fulfill your function. That is what freedom is—nothing more, nothing less. To be free to be what you are not is not an option; besides, it makes no sense.

God is infinitely free; He is the epitome of freedom, and His Creation is the manifestation of His function: to create by infinitely extending His infinite Love in perfect abstraction. And you are the result—the same as He is—and your function and your freedom are likewise the same. When your mind functions perfectly, as it was created—and this is what truly occurs in eternity—that is what you do, and the result is your perfect Creations: the Creations of the Son of God. Anything else is nothing but a bad dream, the result of misusing your will and your freedom.

Today, however, you will use your will rightly to believe in the Truth, for that is your true freedom.

To believe is merely to think that what you imagine is true. Contemplate yourself as God’s work, and think with firm determination that this is the truth. This is an exceptional point at which belief merges with Knowledge. Here, they are one and the same, because that in which you now choose to believe reflects exactly the Truth.

If you succeed, your mind will be filled with light and your heart flooded with joy. If you do not, do not worry. You remain in darkness, but a lamp has been set before you to light your way. You need only turn toward the light with as little doubt and uncertainty as you can. It will not be long before the power of these words demonstrates their truth by transforming, of themselves, the dream around you. And then you will immediately recognize the power they contain—that is the power of miracles.

You need only follow, with determination and trust, the path they show you, even stubbornly if need be; it does not matter. The only thing that matters is your will to make them true for you. The rest will follow.

Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.

1. Today we practice differently, and we face our anger so that our fears may vanish and make room for Love.

²Within these simple words with which we practice today’s idea lies salvation.

³This is the answer to temptation, the welcome to Christ where once fear and anger reigned.

⁴Here is Atonement fulfilled, the world gently laid aside, and Heaven restored.

⁵Here is the answer given by the Voice for God.

2. The natural condition of the mind is total abstraction. ^I

²But now a part of it has become unnatural.

³It no longer sees everything as one.

⁴Instead, it sees only fragments of the whole, for only thus could it invent the partial world you now perceive.

⁵The purpose of seeing is to show you what you want to see.

⁶Hearing brings only the sounds the mind desires to hear. ^II

3. This is how the concrete arose. ^III

²And now we must use the concrete in our practice.

³We place it in the hands of the Holy Spirit, to be used for a different purpose than the one we gave it.

⁴He can use only what we have made to teach us, but He does so from a different point of view, so that we may see in everything a different purpose. ^IV

4. One brother is all brothers.

²Each mind contains all minds, for all minds are one.

³This is the truth.

⁴But do these words give you an understanding of the meaning of Creation?

⁵Do these statements offer perfect clarity?

⁶What could they seem to be but empty sounds, perhaps beautiful and inspiring, yet ultimately not understood and incomprehensible?

⁷The mind, having taught itself to think concretely, can no longer grasp the abstract idea that it contains all things. ^V

⁸We need to see a little in order to learn a great deal.

5. It seems to us that the body we feel limits our freedom, causes us suffering, and ultimately ends our life.

²But the body is merely a symbol of a specific form of fear.

³If fear did not manifest through symbols, it would provoke no response.

⁴Symbols are effective because they can represent what has no meaning.

⁵But fear, being false, needs the concrete to seem real.

6. Bodies attack, but minds do not.

²This thought surely recalls the Text, in which this is often emphasized.^VI

³This is why bodies so easily become symbols of fear.

⁴You have been urged many times to look beyond the body, for in seeing it, we are shown the symbol of Love’s “enemy,” which Christ’s vision does not see.

⁵The body is the target of attack, because no one believes they can hate a mind.

⁶But what else except the mind commands the body to attack?

⁷What else could be the seat of fear, if not that which conceives it? ^VII

7. Hatred is something concrete.

²And it needs a concrete thing to attack.

³This is why the enemy is always perceived as something that can be seen, touched, heard, and finally destroyed.

⁴When hatred is laid upon something, it calls for death as surely as the Voice for God proclaims there is no death.

⁵Fear is insatiable, and it consumes all it sees, and seeing itself in everything, it must turn against itself and destroy. ^VIII

8. He who sees a brother as a body is seeing him as a symbol of fear. ^IX

²And he will attack him, for what he sees is his own fear projected outward, crying out to return to him.

³Do not underestimate the fury of projected fear.

⁴It screams in rage, clawing at the air in frantic hope of seizing its maker and devouring him.

9. So does the body’s eyes see the one whom Heaven cherishes, whom angels love, and whom God created perfect.

²That is his true reality.

³And in Christ’s vision, his beauty is revealed in a form so holy and so lovely that you could scarce refrain from kneeling at his feet.

⁴But instead, you will take his hand, for you are as he is.

⁵Your attack on him is your own enemy, for it keeps you from seeing that in his hands lies your salvation.

⁶You need only ask it of him, and he will give it to you.

⁷Do not ask him to be the symbol of your fear.

⁸Would you want Love to destroy itself?

⁹Or would you prefer it be revealed and set you free?

10. Today we will practice in a way we now have learned. ^X

²You are now better prepared, and today you will come closer still to Christ’s vision.

³If you are determined to reach it, you will.

⁴And once you have attained it, you will no longer be willing to accept the witnesses the eyes of the body call forth.

⁵What you will see will sing to you of ancient melodies you have always known.

⁶Heaven has not forgotten you.

⁷Do you not want to remember it?

11. Choose any brother, for he will symbolize them all, and ask him for salvation.

²First, see him clearly, as you are accustomed to seeing him.

³Observe his face, his hands, his feet, and his clothing.

⁴Picture him smiling, and notice the familiar gestures he makes so often.

⁵Then think about this:

⁶What you see now hides the vision of one who can forgive all your sins; whose holy hands can remove the nails that pierce your own, and take the crown of thorns you placed upon your bleeding brow. ^XI

⁷Ask him this to set you free:

⁸Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.

⁹I want to behold you with the eyes of Christ,

¹⁰And see in you my perfect sinlessness.

12. And the One you called upon will answer you, for He will hear in you the Voice of God and answer you in your own language.

²Now behold the one you had seen only as flesh and bone, and recognize that Christ has come to you.

³Today’s idea is the sure escape from anger and from fear. ^XII

⁴Be certain to use it immediately if you feel tempted to attack a brother, seeing in him the symbol of your own fear.

⁵And you will see how he suddenly changes from enemy to Savior; from demon to Christ.

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^I Do not overlook this statement. It is of utmost importance, for it reveals to you, in a very simple way, your true condition and that of everything that exists, since mind is the only thing that truly exists. Yet this also completely contradicts what your mind now thinks. It is not true, but since it is what you believe, you have made it true for yourself.

You believe exactly the opposite: that only what is concrete, limited, physical, and material exists—that is, what you can perceive. It is not so. It is indeed what you think, but understand that it is only “what you think,” and nothing more. You believe that, besides thinking it, it has existence in itself, but that is merely another of your strange ideas, and one that is not true because it is totally alien to your nature, which is perfectly abstract. That is why thinking in concrete terms disturbs and frightens you, and that is the proof that it is not true.

You will never be happy while believing in the specific and hoping to find salvation there, for the simple reason that it is not true—and that is why it has never satisfied you. You, like your Father, are perfect and unlimited abstraction, and that alone will bring you perfect satisfaction, for it is the truth.

^II Remember what was said yesterday: every experience is an act of will; perception is the result of placing your will in finding something apart from yourself. Your will has the power to do that, but it cannot make it real, for there is nothing apart from you; that is impossible—you encompass everything. Yet you can believe that you have succeeded. Ask yourself this question: are you in the world, or do you believe you are in the world? For it is not the same.

^III The concrete is what is unlike you. You are mind, a perfect abstraction. That is what confers upon you your absolute, infinite, changeless, and timeless nature. Concrete things are precisely the opposite: partial, limited, changeable, and perishable.

^IV The illusory self you believe you are understands only illusions; that is why thisCourse speaks to you through the very illusions you have conceived—your dream—but it reinterprets them in a loving way so that they lead you to happy dreams. You cannot awaken if you are stressed by fear and guilt. Yet as you gradually accept the unreal nature of what you see before you, your will begins to straighten that fearful dream and eventually abandons it altogether.

You still fear, you still feel guilty, you still experience the irresistible impulse to project your fear outward, because you still believe and wish to be only “you.” Do not be afraid; allow your mind to grow familiar with the idea that you are not that limited being you believe yourself to be, but that you are everything. Open your mind and your heart; embrace what your senses perceive. This is not about losing anything—it is about expanding your mind.

When your heart tenderly welcomes everything it perceives—what was its own “creation”—it will treat it with infinite maternal love. It does not matter if it is an illusion. Accept it, not for what it is in itself, but because it comes from you. And when nothing any longer inspires fear in you, for you will have assumed the parenthood of your false creation, you will begin to see the light of your own Self beyond all forms.

^V Still, do not be surprised that this abstract, unlimited condition is difficult to grasp. How could it be otherwise, when it is precisely your belief in the concrete and the limited that you must transcend? This is the typical situation of two opposing beliefs in conflict.

Do not fight your old beliefs; simply embrace the new ones and forgive the old. Let them gently fall away from your mind, without effort. In time, you will notice that the instrument you use for everything—your personal mind—begins to transform itself; it relaxes and starts to take on the qualities of its new beliefs.

You have done nothing to make this happen; you have simply placed your will and your heart where you were guided, and miracles begin to occur in and around you. Inexplicably, your understanding expands and you comprehend matters and circumstances that once were obscure; without knowing how, your attachments fall away, and the things of the world affect you less; you feel at once more detached and yet closer to everyone and everything. You are becoming more abstract—you are “dematerializing.”

^VI T-7.VI.9:4 “If the mind CANNOT attack, the ego proceeds with perfect logic to conclude that YOU cannot be mind.”

T-8.VIII.1:1–2 “Attack is ALWAYS physical. When any form of attack enters your mind, YOU ARE EQUATING YOURSELF WITH A BODY.”

T-17.VII.6:4 “Some idea relating to the body must have entered, for minds cannot attack.”

T-18.VII.3:6 “Truly, the mind cannot attack, but it CAN conceive fantasies and direct the body to enact them.”

T-19.II.1:5 “The belief in sin necessarily rests upon the firm conviction that minds, NOT bodies, can attack.”

^VII Remember that fear is an absence of love, and remember also that absences do not exist. Could anything be more logical? If absences do not exist, fear is an illusion. Fear occupies a place in your holy mind because you have believed in it, and by that belief you have made it real for yourself. Abandon fear, and abandon the fear of abandoning fear. Recover your sanity.

^VIII Fear is an absence, and hatred or anger is the rejection of that absence and its projection outward. But you reject only what you first regard as real; otherwise, why would you reject it? If fear is not real, hatred and anger are meaningless. Fear and hatred feed upon each other. Abandon either one, and the other disappears.

^IX You hate your brother’s body and your own because you do not understand them and they frighten you. You conceal and contain that immense fear behind a thin veil of lies. Perception is purely symbolic. See it this way: the skin is the thin veil that contains your fear; strip that attractive body of its skin, and you will behold horror.

The body revolts you because it does not correspond to your perfectly abstract nature. In the dream, it makes perfect sense; in Truth, it means nothing. The body does not deceive you; the body is nothing—you deceive yourself with it. If you value it and regard it as an end in itself, you will be frightened and live in fear. Yet you can use it to fulfill your role in God’s plan for salvation. The body itself is unimportant, but in the service of the Holy Spirit it will fulfill its function splendidly and will serve you in bringing your brothers the Word of God.

^X Here you are offered a very effective visualization practice that you have already tried in Lessons 78 and 121. You might wish to review them again. You should now be better prepared to do this exercise. The only thing that matters for it to succeed is the sincerity of your request. Ask with all your heart, and you may be absolutely certain that it will be granted.

^XI Matthew 9:6 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—He said to the paralytic, ‘Rise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’”

John 20:25 “So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will not believe.’”

^XII Never forget this statement. Nothing could be truer than this. Remember it whenever you feel tempted to blame anyone. If the reproach is toward yourself, direct the prayer to your own Self. This formula contains within it the perfect healing of your mind. Never forget it.

This lesson goes to the very core of mental illness. The cause of your suffering is not the world, nor people, nor events. It is one alone: you have condemned your brother. And you have done so without realizing that in doing so you have condemned yourself. For you cannot attack outwardly without reinforcing guilt within. Each time you see guilt in another, you are seeing your own fragmented mind. What you reject in yourself, you project. And that is the mechanism that sustains the dream.

Jesus does not ask you to stop judging out of kindness or compassion. He asks it of you out of intelligence. For as long as you condemn, you will remain trapped in fear. You will go on seeing yourself as separate, vulnerable, incomplete. And you are not. Your brother is your mirror. What you see in him, you strengthen in yourself. Thus, if you wish to see your innocence, you must learn to see it in him as well. There is no other way.

This is not achieved through sentimentality or good intentions. It is achieved by training the mind. When a thought of judgment arises, stop. Ask yourself: Is this true? Do I want to keep reinforcing this image? Do I want to remain enslaved to this perception? And from there, choose again. Remember that you can see your brother as Christ sees him. You do not need to understand or justify him. You only need to stop attacking him in your mind.

This lesson is not moral; it is practical. For to forgive is not to do a favor to another—it is to free yourself. It is to stop upholding an image that makes you sick. It is to relinquish your role as judge and begin to see. Not to see with the eyes of the body, but with the vision of Christ, who knows there is no sin, only errors that have already been corrected.

Today you are asked for an act of humility and of power: I do not know who my brother is, but I want to see him as he is. I want to see him without condemnation, without past, without labels. I want to see him free. And in doing so, I will remember that I, too, am free. For I can keep only what I give. And today, I am invited to give the vision that heals all things.

I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.

1. Fear is a stranger on the paths of Love.

²If you identify with fear, you become a stranger to yourself.

³And then you do not know who you are.

⁴What your Self is remains unknown to the part of you that believes it is real, yet different from you. ^I

⁵Who could be in their right mind and think this way?

⁶Who but a madman could believe he is what he is not, and condemn himself?

2. There is a stranger among us.

²Something born of a thought completely alien to the Truth, speaking a different language.

³Something that looks upon a world unknown to Truth and interprets what, to Truth, has no meaning at all.

⁴But most surprising is this: though it does not recognize its Host, it claims this place as its own, and declares that the One who truly belongs here is the stranger.

⁵Yet how easy it would be to say:

⁶This is my home.

⁷This is where I belong.

⁸And I will not leave just because a madman says I must.

3. What reason is there not to say this?

²What other reason could there be, except that you have given this stranger your place and made yourself unknown to you?

³No one would so needlessly be driven from their home, unless they believed there was another place they would prefer.

4. Who is the stranger here?

²Who does not belong in the home God gave His Son?

³You—or fear?

⁴Is fear a creation of His, made in His likeness? ^II

⁵Does fear complete Love, and is it completed by Love?

⁶There is no home that can shelter both Love and fear.

⁷They cannot coexist.

⁸If you are real, then fear must be an illusion.

⁹But if fear is real, then you do not exist at all.

5. So simply is the question resolved.

²He who is afraid has but denied himself and said:

³I am the stranger here.

⁴And so I leave my home to someone who is more myself than I am.

⁵And I give away everything I believed was mine.

⁶Now he must live in exile, not knowing who he is, unsure of everything except this: that he is not himself, and that his home has been denied to him.

6. What could he now go in search of?

²What could he possibly find?

³He who has become a stranger to himself cannot find a home, no matter where he looks, for he has made return impossible. ^III

⁴He has lost the way, unless a miracle finds him and shows him now that he is not a stranger.

⁵That miracle will come.

⁶For his Self remains at home.

⁷His Self invited no stranger and confused no alien thought with Him.

⁸And He will call to what is His to come back to Him, for He knows what belongs to Him. ^IV

7. Who, then, is the stranger?

²Must it not be the one your Self does not call?

³You cannot now recognize the stranger with you, for you have given him your rightful place.

⁴Yet your Self is as certain of what is His as God is of His Son.

⁵He cannot be confused about Creation.

⁶He is sure of what is His.

⁷No stranger can intrude upon His knowledge or the reality of His Son.

⁸He knows nothing of strangers.

⁹God knows His Son with certainty.

8. The certainty of God is enough.

²He to whom God gives His Son belongs exactly where God placed him forever.

³God has answered your question: “Who is the stranger?”

⁴Hear His Voice assure you quietly and with certainty that you are no stranger to your Father, and your Creator is no stranger to you.

⁵He whom God has joined remains forever One, at home in Him, and not a stranger to Himself. ^V

9. Today we give thanks that Christ has come to seek in the world what is His.

²His vision sees no strangers, but beholds His Own and joyfully unites with them.

³They see Him as a stranger, for they do not recognize themselves.

⁴But when they welcome Him, they remember.

⁵And He gently leads them home, where they have always belonged.

10. Christ forgets no one.

²He offers you all your brothers so that you may remember them, and thus make their home complete and perfect, as it was created.

³He has not forgotten you.

⁴But you will not remember Him until you see everyone as He sees them.

⁵He who denies his brother is denying Him. ^VI

⁶And so he refuses the gift of vision, through which he clearly knows his Self, remembers his home, and attains salvation.

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^I That is the part of the mind governed by the ego, which identifies with the body and believes itself to be a “human being” with its own personal story. That part of your mind that does not know its Self is what you think you are almost all the time.

Today you are offered a fundamental observation: the way you perceive yourself determines your experience of the world. If you identify with the body, you will live in fear. The body is born to die, it becomes ill, it ages, it needs constant defense—and if you believe you are that, how could you not feel vulnerable?

But you are not the body. Neither its fragility, nor its limits, nor its needs are yours. You have assumed a borrowed identity, a caricature of yourself. And that false, fabricated identity is what sustains all your fears. Today you are told clearly: if you were to recognize yourself as you truly are, fear would disappear from your mind forever. Not because you had conquered it, but because it never made sense.

This world is built upon a lie: the idea that you are a separate self, an autonomous body, an individual consciousness that needs protection. That belief is the root of all your conflicts. And the Course does not seek to fix it or make it more bearable; it seeks to dismantle it entirely. For that identity is not only false—it is the cause of all your suffering.

Today you are reminded that you cannot define yourself. You do not know who you are. But there is One who does. And if you are willing to let go of your definition—your little self, your ideas, your roles, your names—and make room for truth, you will experience a new identity that needs no defense. And with it, peace.

The body will remain here for a time, but it will no longer be your reference point. It will be a useful instrument, nothing more. Your identity will not depend on its condition, its appearance, or its story. You will know yourself as free. Invulnerable. Whole. And from that truth, you will walk the world without fear, extending light wherever you go. For you will no longer be what you believed yourself to be. You will be what you have always been.

^II Genesis 1:26–27 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”

^III John 10:5 “They will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

^IV This is aCourse about Truth. Even so, nothing that is said here is the Truth, though all of it is true. Truth is ineffable; it simply is, and it cannot be precisely expressed in words, for words are symbols representing something different from what they are. Yet they are the only thing the mind that believes itself alone and separate can understand.

For this reason, the Course uses them with the purpose of healing that very mind. In this sense, symbols are extremely useful, for they can express all kinds of concepts—both those that are real and those that are not.

This Lesson, like nearly all of them, is deeply symbolic, and that is how you must understand it. It is an allegory of what seems to happen in the mind—but notice how fitting that “seems” is, for here an impossible story is told, one that only seems to occur.

In this allegory there are three characters: the ego, which is that intruder representing the fear that has entered your mind; you, who are the part of the mind with which you identify and to whom Jesus is speaking all the time; and your Self, which is your infinite eternal reality. Notice that the first two characters are imaginary, illusory, and only your Self is real. Do you see how difficult a task Jesus faces—to tell a story that never happened, to build a Course that in truth is unnecessary and yet one that you desperately need?

You need this Course because you believe yourself to be a certain idea you have of yourself, and that belief is your ego. That “you” you think you are and that ego you think affects you are both illusions—as is the fear you feel. None of it is true, and realizing this is salvation. What is nothing is saved from what is nothing; thus salvation, too, has not occurred in eternity. Salvation happens in time—but time does not exist.

All of this is true, but for you it makes no sense. How could it, if it is something that never happened? When that light enters your mind, for an instant you will laugh, but it will be a fleeting moment, for there time ends and eternity—ever as it was—is restored.

Meanwhile, here, in this absurd story of separation, you need not be afraid. Fear is only an imaginary idea that you have invited into your illusory personal mind, where it feels at home because it is as false as your own identity. They go hand in hand toward nowhere—or rather, toward that imaginary place where you think you can hide from God.

This Course is about forgiveness—or rather, about the willingness to forgive, to voluntarily abandon every lie, to change your will, to desire something else. It is a Course about the will to change.

Will is the power of the mind. Use it well, for with that power you make all things. It is the only power that exists. It is the power God gave you when He created you.

^V Matthew 19:6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

^VI Matthew 25:45 “Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I tell you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’”

I Give the Miracles I Have Received.

1. No one can give what they have not received.

²In order to give something, one must first possess it.

³In this, the laws of Heaven and the laws of the world agree.

⁴But here is also where they differ.

⁵The world believes that to possess something, one must keep it.

⁶Salvation teaches the opposite.

⁷To give is to recognize that you have received.

⁸It is the proof that what you have is truly yours. ^I

2. You know that you have been healed when you offer healing.

²You accept that you have been forgiven when you forgive.

³When you recognize your brother as your very Self, you perceive that you are whole.

⁴There is no miracle you cannot give, for all of them have been given to you.

⁵To receive them now, simply open the storehouse of your mind where they are held, and offer them to the world.

3. The vision of Christ is a miracle.

²It comes from far beyond itself, for it reflects eternal Love and the rebirth of a Love that never dies, though it may have been hidden.

³The vision of Christ represents Heaven, for it beholds a world so like to Heaven that what God created perfect can be reflected there.

⁴The darkened mirror held up by the world shows only distorted and fragmented images. ^II

⁵The real world is a symbol of Heaven’s innocence.

4. The vision of Christ is the miracle in which all miracles are born.

²It is their source, remaining unchanged through all the miracles you give, which yet remain your own.

³It is the link, here on earth, that joins the giver and receiver through extension, as they are one in Heaven.

⁴Christ sees no sin in anyone.

⁵And in His sight, those who are sinless are all one.

⁶His Father and He have granted them their holiness.

5. The vision of Christ is the bridge between both worlds.

²And you can trust completely that its power will lead you from this world to one made holy by forgiveness.

³The things that here seem solid are there but faint shadows, barely visible, unable to obscure the Light that shines beyond.

⁴Holiness has been restored to vision, and now the blind can see. ^III

6. This is the only gift of the Holy Spirit.

²The treasure house to which you can come with perfect certainty to find all that can bring you happiness.

³Everything has already been placed here, and you can receive it simply by asking.

⁴Its doors are never closed, and not the smallest request or the most urgent need is ever denied.

⁵There is no sickness that has not already been healed.

⁶The precious treasure of Christ fulfills every lack and answers every need.

7. Here, all remember what was lost when the world seemed to arise.

²For here, the world is mended and made new, but under a different light.

³What was once meant to be the dwelling place of sin is now transformed into the center of redemption and the home of mercy, where the suffering are received and healed.

⁴No one is denied entry to this new home where salvation awaits.

⁵No one is a stranger to the one who comes into this world.

⁶Nothing is asked of anyone except to accept the welcome that is offered.

8. The vision of Christ is the holy ground where the lilies of forgiveness grow. ^IV

²This is their home.

³From here they may be taken into the world, but they could never grow in its barren and shallow soil.

⁴They need the light, the warmth, and the loving care of the charity of Christ.

⁵They need the Love with which He looks upon them.

⁶And they become His messengers, giving as they have received.

9. Take from this storehouse of Christ whatever you need, so that His treasures may increase.

²His lilies do not leave their home when they are brought into the world.

³Their roots remain.

⁴They do not forsake their source, but carry its generosity with them.

⁵And so they make the world a garden like the one they came from, to which they return with even greater fragrance.

⁶Now they are twice blessed.

⁷They have delivered the messages of Christ they carried, and those messages have been returned to them.

⁸And they joyfully bring them back to Him.

10. Behold the abundance of miracles you have to share.

²Do you really believe you do not deserve these gifts when God Himself has willed they be given you?

³Judge not the Son of God, and follow the way that He has set. ^V

⁴Christ has dreamed the dream of a forgiven world.

⁵This dream is His Gift for a gentle transition from death to life, from despair to hope.

⁶Let us dream with Him for a moment.

⁷His dream awakens us to truth.

⁸His vision offers us the means to return to our eternal Holiness in God, which we have never lost.

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^I Today’s lesson continues and expands upon yesterday’s idea: to see, to receive, and to give.

The vision of Christ is the miracle that takes place in you when you behold a forgiven world. That is the only miracle, and from it all others arise. Once you see with the eyes of Christ, the beneficence of your vision compels you to share it with others, and in doing so you increase it in yourself and preserve it; thus you are healed, and they are healed.

The vision of Christ brings to the world a message of absolute acceptance: the news that your Father has never condemned you and awaits His prodigal son’s return to his home, which is His own. It is a message that can work miracles because it carries within it the Power of God; it is the message of Truth, the Word of God, the gospel you are asked to proclaim to your brothers weighed down with guilt. It is your salvation and theirs; your healing and theirs.

To see a brother with the eyes of Christ is the only way to truly forgive—there is no other. Anything short of this is imposture and blasphemy; it is to proclaim that the Son of God is not as holy as his Father, because He created him inclined toward evil. This is the lie you must eradicate from your mind with determination; in this you must place all your will at every moment. There is nothing else to do but that, for there is nothing else.

If this is what you ask for, this is what is granted you, for your Father will never deny you anything, and your will is always fulfilled. But remember that you must remain alert not to fall again into the dream of guilt. You are still dreaming, and for now all you can do is straighten your dreams. You cannot awaken by your own means, but you can express your firm will to do so by striving always to see the world as Christ beholds it. This is neither difficult nor demanding; remember that it requires only that you restrain your tendency to decide what things are and instead wait in trust to be told what they truly are. But above all, do not feel guilty if you find yourself unable to achieve this, nor take refuge in your inability as an excuse to stop trying.

Today’s lesson insists on an essential idea: you can keep only what you are willing to give. And there is no gift more precious than vision. Here we do not speak of seeing with the eyes of the body, but with the eyes of the heart—from that deeper level of your being that recognizes light where once you saw only darkness.

When you give the vision of Christ, you receive it. And you need do nothing special to give it; you are simply asked not to deny the light that is in your brother. Look upon him with good will. Do not cling to the image your ego made of him. Do not turn him into a symbol of your guilt. See him as he is, even if only for an instant, and that instant will be enough for you to recognize yourself as well.

This lesson reminds us that we are not here to seek anything, but to give. You do not need to find your holiness; you need to extend it. Only then will you know it is yours. And this is how you become a miracle worker—not by trying to change anyone, but by seeing clearly. By offering the clear gaze that forgives. Thus, where once there was conflict, peace arises. And where once there seemed to be separation, you recognize unity.

Today you are invited to walk with open eyes—not to analyze, judge, or interpret, but to bless. Bless with your gaze. Let it be gentle, kind, compassionate. Remember that everything you see is yourself. And that each time you choose to see with love, you return yourself to yourself. You can keep only what you give, for only by giving do you know you have it. That is the dynamic of the Kingdom. Practice it.

^II 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as also I am known.”

^III Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

^IV Exodus 3:5 “Then He said, ‘Do not come near. Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’”

The passing of the lilies of forgiveness between the world of Christ and the one you now see is a beautiful allegory—more real than what you now believe in. These two worlds are not places; they are states of consciousness. Remember: all is mind. Space is merely a way of using your mind in terms of the separation of the ideas you conceive. And all of it is sustained by your will.

When you set your will to see beyond appearances, you are instantly appointed a minister of God, and you become aware that the gates to the treasury of Christ stand open before you, that you may take the miracles the world needs. You do not know what they are; you know nothing—but that does not matter at all, for realizing this is what allows Christ to distribute them with perfect equity and wisdom.

Do not claim to know what you do not, but rest in your humility, your trust, and your faith. You need do nothing more: all will be done for you.

^V Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Today I Learn to Give as I Receive.

1. What has been given you?

²You have been granted the knowledge that you are a mind, that you are in a Mind and are pure mind, forever free from sin and wholly without fear, because you were created by Love.

³Nor have you left your Source, for you remain exactly as you were created.

⁴This was given you as knowledge that cannot be lost.

⁵And that same knowledge was given to all living things, for it is by that knowledge alone that they live.

2. You have received all this.

²Everyone who walks the world has received it.

³You do not give this knowledge, for it was given by Creation itself.

⁴It cannot be learned.

⁵What, then, are you to learn to give today? ^I

⁶Yesterday’s lesson returned to a theme found at the very beginning of the Text. ^II

⁷Experience cannot be directly shared, as vision can.

⁸The revelation that the Father and the Son are One will come in due time to every mind.

⁹But that moment is determined by the mind itself; it is not something that can be taught.

3. That time is already set.

²This may seem quite arbitrary.

³But no one takes a single step by chance along the way.

⁴That step has already been taken by everyone, though they have not yet begun to walk the path.

⁵For time only seems to move in one direction.

⁶We but undertake a journey that is already over.

⁷Yet it appears that there is a future we do not yet know.

4. Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go by magic.

²Yet behind the appearances there is a plan that does not change.

³The script is written.

⁴The moment in which you will experience the end of all your doubts is already set.

⁵For we are merely reviewing a journey that has ended, looking back on it as if we are doing it again, going over what has already happened. ^III

5. A teacher cannot give his experience, for it is not something he has learned.

²His experience was revealed to him in due time.

³But vision is his gift.

⁴A teacher can give his vision directly, for the knowledge of Christ has not been lost.

⁵For Christ has a vision He can give to anyone who asks.

⁶The Will of the Father and the Will of Christ are joined in knowledge.

⁷Yet there is a vision the Holy Spirit sees, because the Mind of Christ beholds it too.

6. There the world of doubt and shadows meets the intangible.

²It is a quiet place within the world, made holy by forgiveness and by love.

³There all contradictions are resolved, for there the journey ends.

⁴There is simply an experience that cannot be learned, nor taught, nor even seen.

⁵It is beyond our learning goal, for it lies beyond what we can accomplish on our own.

⁶We are concerned only with attaining the vision of Christ.

⁷For that is something we can reach. ^IV

7. The vision of Christ obeys a single law.

²It does not see a body, nor does it confuse the body with the Son whom God created.

³It beholds a light beyond the body.

⁴It sees an idea beyond what can be touched.

⁵It sees a purity untouched by error, unharmed by foolish mistakes, and untainted by fearful thoughts of guilt that come with dreams of sin.

⁶It sees no separation.

⁷And it looks on everyone, and everything, with eyes that see the Light undimmed.

8. All who seek to reach this vision must—and will—teach it.

²All that is required is the recognition that the world can offer nothing of value to compare with this.

³Nor can it propose a goal that does not fade before this vision.

⁴And this is what you will offer to the world today: to see no one as a body.

⁵Greet your brother, then, as the Son of God he is, acknowledging that he is one with you in holiness.

9. Thus are his sins forgiven him, for Christ’s vision has the power to overlook them all.

²In His forgiveness they disappear.

³For since Christ does not see them, they simply cease to be.

⁴And in their place comes the vision of the holiness that lies beyond them.

⁵It does not matter what form they took, how great they seemed to be, or whom they seemed to harm.

⁶They are no more.

⁷And all the effects they seemed to have are gone with them.

⁸They are undone and never were.

10. This is how you learn to give as you receive.

²And thus the vision of Christ also beholds you.

³This lesson is not hard to learn, if you remember that in your brother you but see yourself.

⁴If he is lost in sin, then so must you be.

⁵But if you see light in him, then you have forgiven yourself your sins.

⁶Each brother you meet today gives you another chance to let Christ’s vision shine on you and bring you God’s Peace.

11. It is irrelevant when the revelation comes, for it has nothing to do with time.

²Yet time still holds a gift for us.

³It is an experience in which true knowledge is so perfectly reflected that the images we see share in its invisible holiness, and all things like them shine with its immortal Love.

⁴Today we practice seeing all things with Christ’s vision.

⁵And through the holy gifts we give, Christ’s vision looks on us as well. ^V

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^I Today’s lesson teaches us once again that we receive exactly what we give, and that this happens at the very moment we give it. And it cannot be otherwise, for everything we give we give to ourselves, since there is nothing that is not our own reality. If we understand and accept that we are mind, and that the ideas our mind conceives must always remain within it and cannot go anywhere else—because there is no such place—we clearly understand that everything we give we give to ourselves, and within us it remains.

Today we apply this idea in a very specific way to the vision of Christ, which is true vision. When we see through the eyes of Christ, we simply see the truth, and what we see is what we are.

The lesson begins by explaining that to know and to be are the same, and that this is precisely what it means to live; therefore, the knowledge of being is consubstantial with all that lives. It could also be said that the joy of being is the love that impels the extension of that same Being in Creation. To live, to know, to be, to love, and to create are One and the Same, and that is Heaven—the Creation of God. In the dream of time, however, this is something that must be remembered, for the dream itself was the desire to forget that condition.

The fragmented mind of the Son of God, which believes it lives in time, can occasionally experience the revelation of Reality, though this cannot be sustained, for it is knowledge antithetical to its false, fragmented, and temporal existence. This revelatory experience is ineffable and cannot be transmitted to others, but the vision of Christ can. And each time we see anyone with those eyes, we are learning it, teaching it, and beholding our own holiness. This is how we truly forgive the sins of our brothers and our own.

^II T-4.XII.9:4–6 “God does not need Revelation to be returned to Him, which would clearly be impossible, but He DOES want Revelation to be shared with others. This cannot be done with the Revelation itself, since its content cannot be expressed and is extremely personal to the mind that receives it. Yet it can still be extended to other minds through the attitudes that the knowledge of the Revelation brings.”

^III The idea expressed in these two paragraphs may be difficult to grasp. Look at it this way: think of the history of humanity as a novel that tells the adventures of countless characters over a vast stretch of time. The novel has many pages, but it is bound within a single large volume and indeed has a beginning and an end. It is a novel that you, the Son of God, wrote and are now reading, identifying yourself with each of those characters. You believe that you are all of them, and that everything that happens to them is happening to you.

This novel tells a story of fear, for it began with a dreadful premise: that you, the Son of God, succeeded in separating yourself from your Father. In truth, you do not know how or why such a thought ever crossed your holy mind, but you developed that fearful initial idea, and now look what you hold in your hands. The script is already written. The world of time has a happy ending. Your story ends well, though you still have a few pages left to read.

^IV Remember that Revelation comes from God to you and is something bestowed upon you, but the vision of Christ is something you can and must learn and teach, for it is what ends the dreams of fear and turns them into happy dreams. The vision of Christ leads you to see the real world.

Today’s lesson defines precisely the sphere of work of the teacher of God and miracle worker. Today you are told exactly the extent of your responsibility. The teachers of God strive to see the world in a different way; they seek to see it through the vision of Christ. This is something they can achieve, for it depends on their will. They ask for this, and it is granted them. Indeed, the teachers of God ask only for this, and this alone is what is granted. Yet in this vision are all miracles. What else would a teacher of God desire?

This Course trains your mind—or rather, it trains your will—so that you seek only this: to see your brother as a spirit having nothing to do with the forms of the body and its attributes, for that is what he truly is, and so are you. You now look upon the world with innocent eyes that do not know what the things they behold mean, and you wait to be told how to interpret them.

This Course constantly urges you not to assign your own meanings to the forms you think you see, for doing so merely incites you to build your own fantasies with them. And because you are afraid, do not know what you are, and believe yourself to be alone and separate from everything, your fear leads you to invent fearful tales of guilt and punishment. Put very simply, that is what is happening in your mind now.

You are asked only to stop dreaming and begin to see, for you have never truly seen—you have only imagined things. This new way of seeing the Course calls the vision of Christ, and it will lead you to see a happy world: the real world. And this is indeed something you can achieve—if that is truly what you want, and all that you want.

^V Jesus reminds us today of a fundamental law of how the mind works: the mind takes on the form of whatever it contemplates intently. If it joins with hate, it becomes hateful. If it joins with love, it becomes loving. The mind is pure capacity for adaptation, a moldable potential that, like a chameleon, blends with what it fixes upon. This is a powerful idea, deeply practical. For if you understand this, you can use it to heal.

When you feel trapped by a loss, a betrayal, an accident, or any situation that has generated a painful interpretation, what has actually happened is that your mind has become fixed upon a symbol of chaos, of disorder, of threat. You cannot stay there without consequences. But you do not need to struggle against the image or the thought; it is enough to replace that symbol with another—one of peace, of order, of beauty. Redirect your attention with firm but gentle will. Turn your gaze—and with it your mind—toward something that expresses harmony.

A very concrete way to do this is to devote yourself completely to a simple task. Cleaning, for example. Not as an escape, but as an act of full presence. To clean a floor, to arrange a drawer, to wash the dishes—not for the sake of a result, but to allow your mind to contemplate order while it acts. If done with mindfulness and devotion, this is a form of prayer. For you are not scrubbing—you are redirecting awareness. You are choosing peace.

This principle can be applied to many things: to silence, to a serene melody, to a spacious and uncluttered place. Anything that reflects order can help you remember inner order. For the mind becomes like what it contemplates with love. This is a beautiful teaching of immense practical value. Do not forget it.

I Would Be in His Presence Now.

1. This is a day of quiet and of trust.

²It is a time especially promising in the calendar of your days.

³It is a time Heaven has appointed to cast a timeless Light upon this day, where echoes of eternity are heard.

⁴This day is holy, for it marks a fresh beginning, a new experience, a different kind of feeling, and a renewed awareness.

⁵You have spent many days and nights in celebration of death.

⁶Today you will learn to feel the joy of Life.

2. This is another turning point in the curriculum. ^I

²Now we introduce a new dimension.

³A fresh experience that sheds Light on everything we have already learned, and prepares us for what remains to learn.

⁴This experience leads us to the threshold where learning ends, and we catch a glimpse of what lies beyond the highest levels of what can be learned.

⁵It leaves us there for an instant, and then we move beyond—certain of our direction and of our one intent.

3. Today you will be given a glimpse of Heaven, though you will return again to the ways of learning.

²But you have come far enough along the road to alter time, to rise above its laws, and walk for just a while into eternity.

³You will learn to do this more and more, as every lesson well practiced brings you more quickly to this holy place and leaves you for a moment in the arms of your true Self.

4. He will direct your practice today, for what you desire now is but to do His Will.

²And as you join your will with His today, what you ask will be given you.

³You need but today’s idea to light your mind and let it rest in quiet expectation and in joyful peace, by which you swiftly leave the world behind.

5. From this day forward your ministry will gain a real devotion and a glow that touches all whom you encounter, blessing all those you look upon.

²And a vision will reach everyone you meet, or think of, or who thinks of you.

³For what you experience today will so transform your mind that it will become the touchstone for the holy Thoughts of God.

6. Your body will be sanctified today, for its only purpose now is to bring the vision of what you experience today to light the world.

²An experience like this cannot be directly conveyed.

³Yet it leaves a vision in our eyes which we can give to all, that they may come a little closer to the time when they will share this same experience—one in which the world is gently left behind and Heaven is remembered for a while.

7. As this experience intensifies, and all goals but this become of little worth, the world to which you return becomes a little closer to the end of time—more like the Heaven in its forms and nearer to its release.

²And you, who bring the light, will see that light more clearly.

³There will come a time when you will not return in the same form you now appear to have, for you will have no need of it.

⁴But for now it has a purpose, and it will serve it well.

8. Today we undertake a journey new to you—one that you cannot even imagine.

²But the Holy One—The Giver of the happy dreams of Life, the Translator of perception into Truth, the Holy Guide to Heaven given to you—has dreamed this journey for you now, that you might have this day’s experience. ^II

9. Now we enter in the Presence of Christ serenely, with nothing else on which to focus but His radiant Face and His perfect Love.

²The vision of His Face will stay with you, but there will be a moment that transcends all vision, even this—the holiest of all. ^III

³This you cannot teach, for you did not learn it.

⁴Yet the vision speaks of your remembrance of what you knew in that instant, and will surely know again.

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^I The previous turning point in learning is the one that occurs when you truly learn to forgive. “It begins with hope, for we have come to a turning point from which the way becomes much easier” (W-122.10:2). First you forgive, and then you are lifted into an ecstatic vision of Heaven.

^II Psalm 16:10 “For You will not abandon my soul to hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

Mark 1:24 “Saying, ‘Leave us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God.’”

Here, the Holy One is the Holy Spirit.

^III Today’s lesson is very special. It is not a lesson to be done, but to be experienced. Today you are invited to a deeper silence, to a more radical trust. You are not asked to understand anything, nor to make any effort. You are only asked to be available. Only to say yes. This is a holy day.

Today you are asked to go, without expectations, to the meeting with an experience that transcends all that the world can offer. It is the mystical experience of union with Reality. Nothing more and nothing less. The same one referred to at the end of the Course, in the Introduction to the Glossary: “A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary” (G-1.2:5).

This entire Course has been designed to lead you here: to the gates of the Presence. All your training, all your inner work, had no other purpose than this: that you remember who you are. That you cease identifying with a personal story and once again recognize your eternal, invulnerable, perfect Self. That is awakening.

You cannot force this experience, but you can desire it. You can create the space for it to occur. You can step aside, grow still, and open yourself. Even if it lasts only an instant, that instant is enough. For it is not an instant of the world: it is a remembrance of what has always been.

Approach it in peace and devotion. Expect nothing. Seek no sensations. Simply offer your small will so that your true Will may be shown to you. For all your time in this world, all that you seem to have lived, has been only the preparation for this. To remember. To return. To awaken.

I Walk with God in Perfect Holiness.

1. Today’s idea is nothing more than the simple truth that makes the notion of sin impossible.

²It states that guilt has no cause, and being causeless, does not exist.

³It is the natural consequence of that fundamental idea so often stated in the Text: ideas leave not their source. ^I

⁴If this is true, how could you be separate from God?

⁵How could you walk the world alone and apart from your Source? ^II

2. The ideas we present in our curriculum never contradict each other.

²Truth must always be true to be true.

³It cannot contradict itself, nor be true in some instances and false in others.

⁴You cannot walk the world apart from God, because you could not exist without Him.

⁵He is your life.

⁶He is where you are. ^III

⁷There is only One Life.

⁸And that is the Life you share with Him.

⁹Nothing can be separate from Him and still live. ^IV

3. But where He is, there must also be Holiness, along with Life.

²Everything that lives shares all His Attributes.

³All that lives is as holy as He is, for what shares His Life is part of Holiness, and it is as impossible for it to harbor sin as it is for the sun to choose to be made of ice, for the sea to be apart from water, or for the grass to grow with its roots suspended in the air.

4. There is a Light in you that can never go out, and Whose Presence is so holy that the world is blessed because of you.

²All living things offer you gifts and lay them at your feet in gratitude and joy.

³The fragrance of flowers is their gift to you.

⁴The waves bow down before you, the trees stretch out their arms to shield you from the sun and let their leaves fall gently at your feet, that you may walk in softness, while the wind surrounds your holy head with whispers.

5. The Light in you is what the universe longs to see.

²All living things become still before you, for they recognize the One Who walks with you. ^V

³The Light you carry is their own.

⁴And thus they see in you their holiness, and greet you as their Savior and the Son of God.

⁵Accept their reverence, for it is given to the Holiness Itself that walks with you, transforming all things gently in Its Light into Its likeness and Its purity. ^VI

6. This is how salvation works.

²When you step back, the Light in you goes forward and embraces the world.

³It does not proclaim the end of sin through punishment and death.

⁴Sin simply disappears in silence and in peace, when it is seen as nothing more than a foolish misperception.

⁵The idea of sin is insane, a silly dream, perhaps ridiculous, but never to be feared.

⁶And who would choose to delay even a moment his approach to God for such a foolish whim?

7. Yet you have spent many years in just such foolishness.

²The past is gone, with all its fantasies.

³They no longer hold you.

⁴Your approach to God is near.

⁵And in that brief remaining space of doubt, you may forget your Companion and mistake Him for the foolish dream that now is over.

8. “Who walks with me?”

²You should ask this question a thousand times a day, until certainty dispels all doubt and brings peace at last.

³Today, let there be no doubt.

⁴God speaks for you in answering your question with these words:

⁵I walk with God in perfect holiness.

⁶I light the world, I light my mind,

⁷And all the minds that God created one with me.^VII

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^I T-19.I.8:7 “The RESULT of an idea is NEVER separate from its source.”

T-26.VII.16:2–3 “God’s Will is that you learn what has always been true: that He created you as part of Himself. And this must forever be true, FOR ideas do not leave their source.” (See also the note on Lesson 132.)

^II Today’s lesson is very simple and very powerful. It consists simply in removing all that does not exist, because it is not true, leaving only what is truly there. To do this lesson well, you need only withdraw from your mind all the ideas you have placed there on your own. You need do nothing more. You must withdraw them for the simple reason that they are not true, they are in the way, and they prevent you from perceiving the truth in yourself and in everything.

You may think that this Course is asking you to believe in a series of wonderful ideas that contradict what the world teaches you about reality, and whose truth cannot be proven. It is not so. What this Course proposes is almost the opposite: it asks you precisely to stop believing in all those stories you tell yourself. They are not true. You cannot even imagine how you would see the world if you stopped constantly telling yourself what it is.

Realize that you spend your life talking to yourself. This obsessive internal dialogue has as its purpose fixing in your mind a description of the world that is false, and, precisely because it is a great lie, it must be constantly sustained by that incessant chatter. If you stopped talking to yourself, you would see a different world.

It is very important that you become aware of why, and how, you see the world as you now believe it to be. You do not realize the enormous effort you make to maintain that world in your mind. Have you ever asked yourself why you cannot stop your internal dialogue, and what its effects are? Well, now you know. When the thought crosses your mind that this Course is trying to wash your brain and convince you of some fanciful illusion, ask yourself whether that is not exactly what you are doing all the time to yourself.

Do not be discouraged when you find yourself unable to stop your inner dialogue. Although it is ideal to learn to quiet your mind and bring it into silence, you will not be able to restrain that tendency of yours to tell yourself stories constantly—at least at first. But you can redirect their theme.

You may remember how the  Text explains that the Holy Spirit can use the ego’s resources for His holy purpose. This is exactly what you are asked to do when you are told to consider and apply the daily ideas of this book to the world you know. Watch your inner dialogue, become aware of it, and do not allow it to run wild with thoughts of sin, guilt, and attack. Learn to take the reins of your interpretations and guide them along gentler paths. In any case, they will be equally fanciful and unreal, but they will no longer hurt you, and they can help prepare your mind for forgiveness.

By their fruits you shall know them. By now you must be quite clear on what the fruits of the world taste like. Do you like their flavor? Do they nourish your soul? Do they make you happy and joyful and bring you peace? If not, why do you keep eating them? Try something else—you might like it better.

You walk the world in perfect holiness for the simple reason that God created you holy, although, as you now know, you make enormous efforts to convince yourself otherwise.

Stop believing. Clear your mind and look upon the world anew. Remember that you do not have to make any effort to establish in yourself another way of seeing; you need only stop striving to impose upon yourself a sickly vision. That is all. Nothing more.

Do not be troubled if, after half a year of doing these exercises, you are surprised to discover that you did not understand the first lessons. “My thoughts do not mean anything.” But not only that: besides having no real meaning, your meaningless thoughts are blocking your vision.

You walk the world in perfect holiness. Now you need only realize that this is truly so. It always has been, and it always will be.

^III John 14:3 “And when I go, I will prepare a place for you. I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

^IV Acts 17:28 “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed His offspring.’”

^V It is worth noting that the original English expression here is living things. It appears forty-six times in the  Text. However, the much more usual English expression living beings never appears even once. The FIP version of theCourse, however, always translates it as “living beings.” Jesus refers to the illusions of the world as “things,” not as “beings.” It is very important to keep this in mind, for it represents an absolute shift in paradigm regarding the nature and condition of the concept of “person.” Persons are not “beings” that cause anything; they are not causes, but effects. Your condition as a “being” does not arise from that “personal” idea you have of yourself, but from your condition as the Son of God.

^VI Genesis 1:26–27 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”

^VII This lesson affirms something the ego cannot tolerate: that you walk with God, in perfect holiness. Not as a distant promise, not as a future possibility, but as a present fact. And that changes everything.

Your mind may still resist. It may say: “It’s not true. I am not holy. I do not walk with God. I don’t feel it, I don’t see it, I don’t believe it.” And yet, you are doing so. Even if you do not know it. Even if you do not feel it. Even if your thoughts say otherwise, the truth has not changed. Holiness is your natural state. It does not depend on your actions, on what you believe, or on your personal history. It is the reflection of what you are, and what you are has never ceased to be united with God.

Today you are told: let the light within you go before you. You do not have to push it, nor manufacture it. You need only allow it to guide you. And you will see how the world begins to recognize you. Not because you say anything, but because they will see in you what is in themselves. They will see their own light reflected. And then they will know.

This is not about doing. It is about allowing. It is not about changing anything. It is about seeing from another place. Your light has nothing to prove. It need only be. And when it is, everything is transformed. This is the key: step aside, and let the holiness that walks with you transform the world as you pass. So simple. So powerful.

I Will Step Back and Let Him Lead the Way.

1. There is a way of living in the world that is not of it, though it seems to be. ^I

²You do not appear to change, although you smile more frequently.

³Your face is calm, and your eyes are quietly lit.

⁴And those who walk the world as you do recognize you as one of their own.

⁵Yet those who have not yet found the path you walk will also recognize you, and will believe you are still like them, just as you were before. ^II

2. The world is an illusion.

²Those who choose to come here are seeking a place where they can be illusions, and thus escape their own Reality.

³But when they find their Reality is also here, they step back and let It lead the way.

⁴What other choice do they really have?

⁵To let illusion go before the truth is madness.

⁶But to let illusion fall away before the truth, allowing the truth to shine as it is, is simply sanity.

3. Today we make this simple choice.

²The mad illusion will continue for a while, so it may be seen by those who chose to come and have not yet rejoiced to find they were mistaken in their choice.

³They cannot learn directly from the truth, for they have denied it.

⁴They need a Teacher who perceives their madness, but who can look beyond illusion to the simple truth that dwells in them.

4. If truth required them to give up the world, it would seem to them as if it asked them to sacrifice something real.

²Many have given up the world while still believing in its reality, and have felt a sense of loss without being truly released.

³Others have chosen nothing but the world, and have suffered a deeper sense of loss they did not understand.

5. Between these two paths, there is another, one that leads past all sense of loss, for sacrifice and deprivation are quickly left behind. ^III

²This is the path assigned to you now.

³You walk this way as others do, and though it does not seem you are different from them, you are indeed.

⁴Thus you can help them as you help yourself, leading them on the path God cleared for you, and for them through you. ^IV

6. It still seems that illusion touches you, but only so that you may reach to them.

²Yet illusion has already receded in you.

³And you do not speak to them of illusions, nor do you offer illusions for them to see or ponder.

⁴Now truth, which goes before you, can speak to them through illusions.

⁵For the path you now propose they walk with you still passes through illusion for a time.

7. All roads will ultimately lead to this.

²Sacrifice and deprivation are paths that lead nowhere—choices that end in failure and goals that cannot be reached.

³All this fades before the truth that shines in you, to lead your brothers from the paths of death and guide them toward the happiness that waits.

⁴Their suffering is but illusion.

⁵But they need a guide to lead them out, for they mistake illusion for the truth.

8. Such is the call to salvation, and nothing more.

²It only asks that you accept the truth and let it go before you, lighting up the path that frees you from illusion.

³It is not a costly rescue.

⁴For it costs nothing, and only yields reward.

⁵Illusion only seems to bind the holy Son of God.

⁶He is freed from illusions only.

⁷And when they fall away, he finds himself again.

9. Now you can walk in safety, though cautiously, for this is a new path to you.

²And you may still be tempted to step ahead of truth and let illusion be your guide.

³You have been given your holy brothers to follow in your steps, as you walk certain of your purpose toward the truth.

⁴Now truth goes before you, that they too may see something they can understand and recognize to lead them on. ^V

10. At the journey’s end there will be no gap, no distance between the truth and you.

²And all illusions that you walked through will vanish as well.

³Nothing will remain to keep the truth apart from God’s completion, holy as Himself.

⁴Step back in faith and let the truth lead you.

⁵You do not know the way.

⁶But One Who knows walks with you.

⁷Let Him lead you, with all your brothers, to the goal.

11. When dreams are done, when time has closed the door on all things that pass and miracles have lost their use, the holy Son of God will make no more journeys.

²There will be no wish to be illusion rather than the truth.

³And we are moving toward that end, along the path the truth directs.

⁴This is our final journey, made for all.

⁵We must not lose our way.

⁶For as the truth goes before us, so it goes before our brothers who will follow us.

12. We are bound for God.

²Pause and reflect on this:

³What road could be more holy, or deserve your effort, your love, and your wholehearted dedication more?

⁴What other way could offer more than everything, or give less and still satisfy the holy Son of God?

⁵We are bound for God.

⁶The truth that goes before us now is One with Him, and leads us to where He has always been.

⁷What other path could you choose but this?

13. Your feet are firmly set upon the way that leads the world to God.

²Do not seek other roads that seem to take you elsewhere.

³Dreams are not fit guides for you, the Son of God.

⁴Forget not He has taken your hand, and given you your brothers in His trust that you are worthy of it.

⁵He cannot be deceived.

⁶His Trust has made your pathway certain and your goal secure.

⁷You will not fail your brothers or your Self.

14. And now He asks but this:

²Think 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 boundless His Love.

³In His Name, and in your own, which are the same, we practice gladly with this thought today:

⁴I will step back and let Him lead the way,

⁵For I would walk the road that leads to Him.^VI

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^I John 17:16 “As I do not belong to the world, they too do not belong to the world.”

^II Today brings a delightful lesson about manners and ways, in which Jesus explains how the teachers of God walk through a world of illusions. The Holy Spirit makes use of both what makes them similar to their brothers and what distinguishes them. They are ordinary people with whom anyone can identify, yet they interpret what they perceive in a radically different way. Apparent attacks are to them calls for help; the difficulties they encounter are opportunities to manifest their perfect invulnerability and the power of God within them; sickness, pain, and suffering are calls for a miracle.

The teachers of God are meaningless without their brothers in need, for no one can be a teacher of anything unless he can teach. Their spiritual vision enables them to recognize that they gain only as they give; therefore, the gratitude of these messengers of God toward their brothers is boundless: in healing, they themselves are healed; in setting others free, they achieve their own freedom; and in guiding those who are lost, they come together to God. This Course is a purely relational spiritual path; it makes no sense in solitude. How else could the idea of separation be healed?

Jesus was the perfect example of how the life of an exalted messenger of God’s Word unfolds in the world. Brother to all, ever joyful and with a heart torn between truth and the impossible, through his crucifixion he made ours unnecessary, for by his glorious resurrection he proved that death does not exist. Jesus is the timeless teacher who guides your soul through a useless dream. He is the elder brother who accompanies you and to whom you can always turn in any tribulation. Jesus is the one thing that will never fail you while you believe yourself to be in this world of illusions. He is the light that guides your mind and the love that kindles your heart. He is as much you as your very Self.

^III Both rejecting the world and embracing it are attitudes founded upon the same error: believing that the world is real. The teachers of God know it is not, and they use the world to awaken from it by seeing it for what it is: an illusion. This is the fundamental difference between a teacher of God and the rest of the world: he treats everything he perceives as an illusion, because he knows it is only an illusion, and nothing more.

A teacher of God is as asleep in the world’s dream as are all his brothers, but he knows that he is dreaming, and he also knows what awaits him upon awakening. This knowledge transforms everything he perceives, everything he considers, and consequently, all his behavior, for he knows Who he is, Who his brothers are, and Who his Father is.

^IV Isaiah 42:16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know; I will guide them along paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.”

Matthew 20:28 “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

^V You are that which they understand. You are the translator of the Word of God. That is your role. In you they see something with which they can identify, for they see that you are like them; yet your testimony resonates in their hearts, and that makes them feel moved to imitate and follow you. It is a relationship similar to the one you are forming with Jesus. Without him, the distance to reach God would be too great for you to bridge on your own.

Jesus serves as the bridge to God, just as you serve as guide and bridge to your brothers. The testimony of Jesus’s life and his words inspired you, and now Jesus needs your body to communicate his gospel. But remember: you do not act according to your own initiative and judgment; you step aside and allow him to guide you. Be very careful not to undertake anything on your own. Quiet your mind and await His Voice.

^VI This lesson is a surrender. A deep and final surrender. It is no longer about understanding, or struggling, or trying to do things right. Today you are asked only to step aside. To stop interfering. To withdraw humbly and allow something greater than yourself to guide you.

Your character knows nothing. It knows only how to repeat what it has learned, to project fear, and to reinforce separation. Your personal story, your opinions, your judgments, your interpretations—all of this is part of the barrier that keeps you from seeing. You do not have to destroy that barrier; it is enough simply to stop feeding it. It is enough to step back.

To step aside is an act of true humility. It is to cease pretending that you know who you are or what is best for you. It is to trust that there is a wisdom within you that knows everything, and that this wisdom will speak if you allow it. You do not have to know where you are going. You do not have to understand the way. You need only take a step back and allow it to be shown to you.

Today you are asked for one thing only: trust. Not in your own strength, but in the Strength that dwells within you. Not in your ideas, but in the Voice that speaks for God. Today you are offered a new way of living: guided, accompanied, sustained at every moment. Surrender to that Guidance with gentleness. Walk slowly, not knowing, but with the certainty that you are not alone and that the path shown to you is the only one that makes sense. And then miracles will begin to occur all around you.