Introduction
1. Today we begin our third review.
²Each day we will review two of the last twenty ideas, until we have reviewed them all.
³For these exercises, we will follow a special format that you are urged to follow as faithfully as you can. I
⁴We understand, of course, that it may not be possible for you to carry out each day and every hour exactly as suggested.
2. Your learning will not be hampered when you miss a practice because it is genuinely impossible to do it at the appointed time.
²Nor is it necessary to make excessive efforts to compensate for missed sessions.
³Our goal is not to make a ritual of these practices, for that would defeat the purpose of what we aim to accomplish through this learning.
⁴But if you miss a practice period simply because you are unwilling to give the time, your learning will be affected.
⁵Do not deceive yourself about this.
⁶Your lack of willingness may be carefully disguised as situations you tell yourself you cannot control.
⁷Learn to distinguish those situations that are truly unfit for practice from those you set up yourself to conceal your unwillingness. II
⁸Any practice periods you missed because you were unwilling to do them, for whatever reason, should be done as soon as you change your mind about your goal.
3. You show reluctance to cooperate in practicing salvation when it interferes with other gods you value more. III
²Only when you withdraw your value from them will your practice be able to replace the litany you offer to those idols.
³Those idols have never given you anything.
⁴But your practice sessions offer you everything.
⁵So accept their offering, and be at peace.
4. The format you should use for these reviews is as follows:
²Devote five minutes twice a day—or more if you prefer—to reflecting on the assigned ideas.
³Begin by reading the ideas and the comments included in each day’s exercises. IV
⁴Then close your eyes and think about them quietly, allowing your mind to relate them to your needs, your apparent problems, and all your concerns.
5. Place the ideas in your mind, and let it use them as it chooses.
²Trust it will use them wisely, for the One Who gave you these thoughts is helping it to make its choices. V
³What else can you trust but what is in your mind?
⁴Have faith that the means the Holy Spirit uses in these reviews will not fail.
⁵Your mind’s wisdom will come to your aid.
⁶Give it direction at the start, and then step back in quiet faith, letting it use the ideas you have given it, as they were given to you for this purpose.
6. They have been given you in perfect confidence, in perfect certainty that you will use them well, in perfect trust that you will understand their messages and use them for your own benefit.
²Offer them to your mind with the same trust, certainty, and faith.
³Your mind will not fail you.
⁴It is the means the Holy Spirit has chosen for your salvation.
⁵And since it is trusted by Him, it deserves your trust as well. VI
7. We emphasize once again how helpful it is to give the first five minutes of the day to these reviews, as well as the last five minutes before you go to sleep.
²If this is not possible, at least try to divide these periods so that you do one session in the morning and one in the evening.
8. The shorter practice periods throughout the day are just as important—and perhaps even more so.
²You are inclined to do the exercises and then go about your day without applying what you have learned to what you do.
³By doing this, you fail to reinforce your learning and miss the opportunity to see its value in your practical life. VII
⁴You now have another chance to do better.
9. In these reviews, we stress the need not to let your learning stall between your longer practice periods.
²Try to review each hour the two ideas of the day, briefly but with sincerity.
³Use the first idea on the hour, and the second one half an hour later.
⁴You only need a moment for each of them.
⁵Repeat the idea, then let your mind rest in silence and peace for a little while.
⁶Then return to your activities, but try to keep the thought with you, and let it help you maintain your peace throughout the day.
⁷If you feel disturbed, return to the thought again.
10. These exercises are designed to help you develop the habit of applying what you learn each day to everything you do.
²They are not meant to be repeated and then forgotten.
³Their usefulness to you is limitless.
⁴And they are intended to serve you in every way, at all times and places, and whenever you need any kind of help.
⁵Try, then, to keep them in your awareness in your daily affairs, so that they may sanctify your day, making it worthy of the Son of God and acceptable to God and to your Self.
11. Each review should end with a reaffirmation of the two ideas of the day.
²Do not forget them.
³This second opportunity to consider each of these ideas will bring enormous advances, and you will emerge from this review with such strengthened learning that you will move forward from there on much firmer ground.
⁴Do not forget how little you have learned.
⁵Do not forget how much you can now learn.
⁶And do not forget how much your Father needs you, as you review these thoughts that He has given you.
I That’s right. Take this review very seriously and do exactly what is being proposed. You have ten very interesting days ahead of you, during which you will consolidate what you have learned. If you do it well, you will benefit enormously by applying the proposed ideas to your daily affairs. The result is spectacular.
II Jesus knows very well how your mind works because He knows perfectly how the ego works.
That which you proudly call “my mind” is nothing more than the infinite diminishment of the Mind that God created perfect, devastated by the idea of separation. Even so, with that you can still function and restore it to what it truly is.
The ego, which is nothing more than the false identity you have of yourself as a result of that perverse idea, will try by all means to keep you from doing these practices. In your mind, in your heart, and in your gut, thousands of excuses will appear not to do what is being asked of you. Do whatever you please, because, in the end, that is what you are going to do anyway. If you wish, do the exercises; if not, listen to the voice of your ego. It doesn’t matter much, because, ultimately, that is what you have been doing all your life.
What is important is that you watch your mind, open your eyes wide, and carefully observe what happens afterward. Be very honest about that. Only your honesty will allow you to interpret correctly what happens and learn from the consequences of your behavior.
If you are truly honest with yourself and look at reality impartially, no one will need to convince you of anything; you will see it for yourself, and soon you will realize what is most beneficial for you.
Learning that is imposed is not pleasant for anyone, and it is not very effective. It is essential that you feel free when making the necessary changes in your mind and not coerced by anything or anyone. Thus you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
Realize that in these lines Jesus is appealing to your will, which is the only thing that matters, and He urges you to align it with His. What your will has been “until now” is irrelevant; what counts here is what it will be “from now on.”
Place your will on doing these Lessons well. Whether you later do them or not is not what matters most; what truly is crucial is that you have the will to do them. Remember: this, above all, is a Course about will.
Be very honest about that. If you do these Lessons with a poor will, they are of no use. If that is your case, stop at once and place your will on recovering your will. That is how will works: it ignites itself.
III That thing called “salvation” sometimes seems too abstract an idea to take seriously, doesn’t it? It certainly is a beautiful idea, but the world also offers us very interesting things, we must admit that. But think about it carefully: salvation is nothing more than a somewhat grandiose expression for a concept that is much more familiar to you—happiness. Moreover, here we are not speaking of just any kind of happiness, but of absolute and everlasting joy: your total liberation.
Salvation is exactly the same thing you are seeking behind all those things the world offers and that seem appealing to you; but by now, you must be quite clear that they do not give you at all what they promise. And you know that well, because it has never—ever—been so. Do you want to be mistaken again? There’s no problem with that: you have all the time in the world to do so. In fact, that is exactly the purpose of time—to give yourself time to make the decision that renders it unnecessary.
In this life, everything is a matter of priorities. Again: be very honest with yourself and carefully observe how you have built your pyramid of priorities. Surely you have found something in the world that seems more interesting to you than truth, love, and the remembrance of God. Something you value more than all that, when, in reality, every value you see there is nothing but a projection of a small aspect of your Self onto that thing, for that, in itself, is nothing.
You are always seeking your Self, whether you seek it within you or in something of this world. But when you seek it outside yourself, you are simply wasting time. Nothing external to you can make you truly happy, because this world is nothing but a dream built out of fears and desires, and your happiness is real: it is what you are.
Save time and choose well. When you feel tempted to abandon a practice, rationalize the situation and take responsibility for the commitment you made when you decided to do this Course. Give it the opportunity to show you that everything it proposes is true, beneficial, and timely.
Listen to Jesus; rest absolutely assured that He knows best.
IV The way to carry out this review is as follows:
① In the morning, when you are completely awake—and, if you wish, after breakfast—read the entire Lesson, that is, the two ideas and their comments. If you have more time and feel inclined, you may look at the original Lessons to which they refer and their notes, but that is not essential.
② Place the ideas in your mind gently and with confidence. Release the ideas into your mind and tell them to go by themselves, on their own, to meet the problems and difficulties that are already there. They are dark places in your mind that displease and disturb you. Tell your mind to direct the day’s ideas to those corners, so they may illuminate them with their light. The ideas will go forth, guided by the Holy Spirit, seeking those distressing situations and engaging with them without your having to do anything. Watch carefully and with detachment what happens. What you see will depend greatly on your particular type of mind. You may see images; you may hear answers; something will happen—just observe.
③ During the next ten days, you will need to keep a close eye on the clock. Do not fit your practices into your workday; no, do it the other way around—fit your day into the practice. You will not use the proposed ideas to live that day; no, you will use the day to practice the ideas. During the next ten days, what happens in your day is not what matters; no, what matters are the ideas, and everything your mind perceives is merely material to feed those ideas, to nourish them, for them to digest it, process it, and give you something in return. Do it that way and you will see that, if you adopt that point of view, it will be much easier for you to stick to the routine of recalling the first idea every hour on the hour, and the second idea at the half hour.
④ At the end of the day, consider again the two ideas. Now look back at how the day went, how those two ideas served you, how they related to the day’s events. Notice where you failed and realize why it happened. In this review, you must not allow yourself to be carried away by guilt at any time. We already know how much you enjoy feeling guilty, but you are preparing yourself to become a master of forgiveness, and you cannot afford the luxury of drugging yourself with that garbage. Don’t you dare fall into such nonsense! You made a mistake, and you will make many more, but that doesn’t count at all; the only thing that matters is your firm determination to reach your goal—nothing else. Then go to sleep peacefully and happily, feeling within you forgiveness and your essential innocence. Tomorrow awaits you with another exciting day, full of interesting challenges.
V Pay close attention to what is being said here, for it is very important and will help you understand a bit how God’s plan for salvation works.
The Holy Spirit relates directly to your mind—without your intervention!—and guides it in making the most appropriate decisions for each circumstance.
You do not have to do anything! Simply offer your good will and gratitude for that to be so, and trust. Do nothing more than that. That is the most that can be asked of you, because it is the most you can give.
It may seem very little to you, but don’t be mistaken: it is immense.
VI This is a new and very powerful idea. A new ally has just been presented to you: your own mind. Now, in addition to God’s Love, the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the unconditional help, counsel, and companionship of Jesus, you also have your own mind. But this is not a capricious invitation made to you without reason. You have spent one hundred and ten days working with your mind, training it, purifying it. It is no longer the same instrument you had at the beginning of this Course; now you can begin to trust it.
Now you can. You trust your mind because you have treated it with respect and dedication. You have worked hard at it, and you have done so in the company of a consummate master of the mind: Jesus has been your teacher. Now you can entrust your mind with specific tasks for it to carry out on your behalf. You have made a great investment in your mind, and you have every right in the world to reap the results of your work. That is why you can trust completely that it will fulfill perfectly whatever you assign it, and your mind will surprise you. Put it to the test.
VII Do you remember how in Lesson One Hundred Eight you learned that giving and receiving are the same? What do you think that means? What is the use of receiving an idea from this Book if you do not give it? Don’t you realize that if you do not give it, you will lose it? To be able to keep the ideas offered to you here and strengthen them in your mind, you must give them. Of course, that does not mean you have to go out into the street, climb on a pedestal, and proclaim to the four winds how wonderful the teachings of this Course are. If you do that, most likely they’ll throw eggs and tomatoes at you, and you’ll end up a mess. And you know what? You’d have it well deserved—for being arrogant and foolish. No. You do not need to do any of that to give the ideas of this Course. It will probably be a long time before the Holy Spirit indicates that you must teach this Course explicitly—and that, if it ever happens.
Life is demanding, haven’t you noticed? It is always asking you for something. Life is always asking you to give something or to do something. And what will you give it? What do you think life needs if not the ideas you are learning here now?
Every day, every hour, every minute, life places a challenge before you. Take it as an opportunity to practice what you have just learned, as a plea, as a call for help—take it as you wish—but rest absolutely assured that everything life requires of you, you are learning in this Course. That is what you must give to life: the ideas you need to give in order to strengthen them in your mind and make them yours forever. “Life” will take many different forms; it may present itself as a hostile brother, as a bill to be paid, or as a pain in your side—who knows! For that, life is very creative. But don’t worry; now you already have with you a good arsenal of ideas and a trained mind that can use them effectively. You only need to offer a little good will… and a lot of trust.
Let your mind use the day’s ideas in any disturbing situation that arises. To do this, you need only keep very present in your mind that you have been assigned a transcendent and supremely important function: you must save the world. Do not forget it. Now you know who you are, why you are here, and you also have the necessary means to perform your role, so go ahead. Do not be afraid. You are incredibly fortunate to have all this. Unfortunately, in this world, that is a rare privilege. Be aware of it, get to work. If you do not do it, who, then, will save the world?
LESSON 111
Morning and Evening Review: W-91 and W-92
1. W-91 “Miracles are seen in light.” I
²I cannot see in darkness.
³Let the light of holiness and truth illuminate my mind,
⁴that I may see the innocence within me.
2. W-92 “Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.” II
²Through strength, I see the Gift God gave to me.
³My weakness is the darkness His Gift dispels, for He gives me His Strength to take its place.
3. On the hour: III
²“Miracles are seen in light.”
4. On the half hour:
²“Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.”
I Miracles are always there; the light that allows you to see them is also always present. The only thing that may or may not be there is your will to see them. Decide what you want to see: miracles or desolation.
II The term closest to “strength” is “power,” and the aspect of your Self that best evokes it is the will. Your will is not the mother of miracles, but it is the midwife that makes their birth in your mind possible. Put your will to work, and let it fulfill its function..
III Strive to follow this program faithfully. Remember: what matters here is not so much what you do, what you achieve, or what you experience, but the will you put into doing it.