Introduction
1. We now begin a new review.I
²We are now better prepared to give more effort and more time to what we are undertaking.
³We are aware that we are preparing ourselves for another level of understanding.II
⁴We want to take this step with determination, so that we may move forward with greater certainty, deeper sincerity, and a firmer faith.
⁵Our steps have been unsteady so far, and doubt has made our journey along the path this Course sets forth slow and uncertain.
⁶But now we will move faster, for we are gaining greater certainty, a more solid purpose, and a clearer vision of our goal.
2. God is only Love, therefore, that is what I am.III
²This is the thought that must precede the ideas we are about to review.
³Each one clarifies some aspect of this thought, or helps to make it more meaningful, more personal and true, and more descriptive of the holy Self we share and are now preparing to know again.
⁴Only this Self knows Love.
⁵Only this Self is perfectly consistent in Its thoughts, knows Its Creator, understands Itself, possesses perfect Knowledge and Love, and never strays from Its constant state of union with Its Father and with Itself.
3. And This is what awaits us at the end of the journey.
²Each step we take brings us a little closer.
³This review will shorten time immeasurably if we keep in mind that This remains our goal, and that as we practice, it is to This that we draw near.
⁴Let us lift our hearts from the dust to Life, remembering that this is what has been promised us, and that this Course was sent to us to clear the path of light and teach us, step by step, how to return to the Eternal Self we thought we had lost.
4. I walk with you on this journey.
²For a brief while, I share your doubts and your fears, that you might come to Me, Who knows the way beyond all fear and doubt.
³We walk together.
⁴I truly understand your uncertainty and your pain, though I know they are without meaning.
⁵Yet a savior must remain with those he teaches, seeing what they see, while holding in his mind the way that led him to his own release, and that will now bring you to yours, along with him.
⁶The Son of God remains crucified until you walk this path with Me.IV
5. My resurrection is renewed each time I lead a brother safely to the place where the journey ends and is forgotten.
²I am made new each time a brother learns that there is a way out of suffering and pain.
³And I am reborn each time a brother’s mind turns toward the light within him and seeks Me.
⁴I have forgotten no one.
⁵Help Me now to guide you back to where the journey began, so that you may make another choice with Me.
6. Free Me by once again practicing the thoughts I brought you from the One Who sees your bitter need and knows the Answer God has given Him.
²Together we will review these thoughts.
³Together we will devote our time and effort to them.
⁴And together we will teach them to our brothers.
⁵God would not allow Heaven to be incomplete.
⁶Heaven awaits you, as do I.
⁷Without you I am incomplete.
⁸And in completing Myself through you, we will return together to our ancient home, prepared for us before time was, and kept unchanged, immaculate, and safe, just as it will be when time is over.
7. Let this review, then, be the gift you give to Me.
²For I need only that you hear My words and offer them to the world.
³You are My voice, My eyes, My feet, and My hands.
⁴And through them I can bring salvation to the world.
⁵The Self from which I call to you is but your Own.
⁶To Him we go together.
⁷Take your brother by the hand, for we do not walk this path alone.
⁸In your brother, I walk with you, and you with Me.
⁹Our Father’s Will is that His Son be One with Him.
¹⁰Then how could everything that lives not also be one with you?
8. Let this review become a time in which we share an experience that is new to you, but as ancient as time itself—and even older still.
²Hallowed be your name.V
³And your glory forever unstained.
⁴Your wholeness is now complete, just as God established it.
⁵You are His Son, and in completing your wholeness you complete His Extension.
⁶We are merely practicing an ancient truth we knew before the illusion seemed to claim the world.
⁷And we remind the world that it is free of every illusion each time we say:
⁸God is only Love, therefore, that is what I am.
9. With this we begin our review each day.
²With this we start and end each practice period.
³And with these words we go to sleep, to awaken once again with them upon our lips and greet the day anew.
⁴We will review the two ideas for the day, always accompanied by this thought, and we will use them to keep it present in our mind and clear in our memory throughout the day.VI
⁵And so, when we have completed this review, we will understand that these words are true.
10. But the words are only aids, and should be used at the beginning and end of each practice period only to remind the mind of its purpose, if needed.
²For our faith will come from what we experience as we practice, and not from the means we use to reach that experience.
³We await it eagerly, knowing that only through that experience is conviction born.
⁴We use the words while constantly seeking the meaning that lies beyond them and beyond their sound.
⁵As we draw near the Source of all meaning, the sound of words grows faint and disappears.
⁶And there we find our rest.
11. Our Father,
steady our steps,
calm our doubts,
quiet our holy minds,
and speak to us.
²We say nothing to You,
for we only want to hear Your Word and make it ours.
³Guide our practicing,
as a father guides his little child along a way he does not understand.
⁴Yet the child walks safely because his father shows the way.
⁵Thus we give our practicing to You.
⁶And if we stumble,
You will lift us up.
⁷If we forget the way,
we count on You to call it back to us.
⁸And if we stray,
You will not cease to call us to return again.
⁹Now quicken our steps,
that we may walk more surely and more swiftly unto You.
¹⁰And we accept the Word You offer us to unify our practicing,
as we review the thoughts that You have given us.
¹¹Amen.
I This Fifth Review was dictated on May 11, 1970.
II The new “level of understanding” refers to Part II of theWorkbook. In this review, therefore, we continue the preparation for Part II that began in the Fourth Review.
III This edition of theCourse, unlike all others—even the Notes and the Urtext—moves this line to the beginning of the paragraph and places at the end of the Section the beautiful Lord’s Prayer that precedes it, in order to achieve greater discursive consistency.
1 John 4:16 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
IV It is important to be aware that thisCourse is profoundly symbolic in form. It teaches the Truth, and Truth is ineffable; in the ultimate sense, it cannot be put into words. The personal mind with which you have identified yourself understands only the concrete, for it chose to be concrete and limited. Therefore, that mind understands only words that tell stories you can comprehend.
Be completely assured that, for a time, it will greatly help you to contemplate Jesus as a character like yourself, walking with you on the path to awakening—and, in a certain sense, that is true. The emotional connection you establish with that figure, so familiar and so easy to love, will help you immensely; it will sustain and comfort you. At times you may wonder what supernatural powers Jesus must have to be able to be with you all the time while fulfilling the same function for the rest of your brothers. And then, perhaps, doubts will assail you that such a thing could be possible.
It is essential that you understand that the mind of Jesus, who dictates this Course, is a mind permanently miraculous and real, whereas the mind with which you have identified yourself is not. Yet you exist—you are real—and your true mind is also real. That real mind, or as Jesus calls it in this Course, the real part of your mind, is the same real mind you share with Jesus. How, then, could Jesus not accompany you at all times on this journey of illumination? That real mind to which you are returning is the Self that is within you, within him, and within all your brothers—and that Self is the only Reality.
V Matthew 6:9 “Therefore, pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’”
VI This Fifth Review is very similar to the previous one. The practice consists of spending an extended period with God twice a day—morning and evening. If the evening meditation is difficult for you because you are sleepy, it is better to do it in the afternoon, after finishing your day and before dinner. In any case, do not forget to dedicate your last thoughts to God as you go to bed.
Each of these two meditations begins and ends by repeating the central thought: God is but Love, and therefore so am I. Then you slowly state the two ideas of the day and simply allow them to sink into your mind. You do not have to do anything else. Simply think that these ideas are true, and try to live them throughout the day. Approach every situation you encounter with the spirit they inspire in you, and pay close attention to what happens—you will be surprised.
Without making any effort, let your behavior align itself with these ideas. Live as if they were fully functional and completely operative within you; with time, you will notice that your life ceases to unfold as if and begins instead to move in perfect harmony with them. You will see that you have changed, that your life has changed, and that what seems to happen to you has changed as well.
Throughout this process, make your only effort that of following the instructions as faithfully as possible regarding the practice periods and frequent reminders during the day. But make absolutely no effort to believe the ideas. It is unnecessary and can even be counterproductive. It is enough to trust that you are taking a course in mind training that will prove extraordinarily effective and healing. Always trust, but never strain to believe.
Do not strive either to do anything special during the longer meditations. These are periods in which the mind rests happily and confidently in God. It is a time to enjoy peace and allow your heart to be kindled with love. It is not work at all; rather, it is precisely the opposite. These must become moments that your mind remembers, values, and seeks with great delight. If you do this well, they will become the best moments of your day, and you will wonder how it is that everyone does not do the same.
In time, being with God will become natural to you, and, without realizing it, you will become a Creature of God, walking untroubled through a world of illusions, spreading blessings, and fulfilling the role your Father assigned you: to be happy and to make happy.
Jesus does not ask here for an academic review or mechanical repetition. What he proposes is a training in inner receptivity: to release control, to cease manufacturing meaning, and to allow significance to arise from another place. This Fifth Review is, above all, an invitation to listen.
Each day two key ideas are reviewed, and we are reminded that the goal is not to understand them but to allow them to act. Jesus speaks of offering them “with total confidence,” without effort. And that is the challenge: to let go of the compulsion to understand so that truth may reveal itself. This is a space of silence, not of analysis.
The text insists: there is nothing to prepare. One need only come to the altar with empty hands and a willing mind. That is why this review is not addressed to the intellect but to the part of the mind that is ready to remember. Here, the aim is not information but transformation.
LESSON 171
God is only Love, therefore, that is what I am.
1. W-151 “All things are echoes of the Voice for God.” I
God is only Love, therefore, that is what I am.
2. W-152 “I have the power to choose.” II
God is only Love, therefore, that is what I am.
I You can hear the echo of God’s Voice in everything around you—if that is what you want to hear, for remember the law of perception: you see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear.
This review joins two powerful ideas: “If I so desire, I can hear the Voice of God in all things,” and “It is I who decide what to hear.” Both point in the same direction: everything that is experienced arises from an inner choice. There is no “objective” perception; everything that is seen and interpreted is the exact reflection of the voice one has chosen to listen to.
The power of decision is not a gentle metaphor; it is a radical declaration: if one is suffering, it is because one has chosen suffering. And if one desires peace, it is available right now—without conditions. But accepting this is dizzying, for it destroys victimhood and leaves the mind without excuses. There are no valid justifications left—only choice. You alone are responsible for your emotional states.
Here defense appears as the ego’s central mechanism. Every time something is defended—an idea, an emotion, an image—it is because one is trying to uphold a false perception. Jesus makes it clear: defense is a form of attack, and every form of attack is an attempt to deny the truth. And what is truly being defended? The separated self—the thought system that justifies fear, guilt, and projection.
This review invites you to completely reverse that dynamic. If everything reflects the Voice that speaks for God, then there is nothing to defend against. On the contrary, every experience, even one that seems painful, can be transformed into a message of love if you choose the right teacher to interpret it.
The way is not to improve the world—the one your ego has interpreted for you—but to change interpreters. And that requires only one thing: to want to hear the Voice of God more than you want to justify pain and anger. From the ego’s standpoint—that is, from your point of view—it is not easy, but it is simple. And it is within reach of anyone who decides to stop defending and take responsibility for what he sees. For peace comes when there is nothing left to defend.
II For the love of God! How could you not have it? You can decide whatever you wish; in fact, that is what your will is. But choose well.