July 31st 2015  Lesson 72

Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation. 

While we have recognized that the ego's plan for salvation is the opposite of God's, we have not yet emphasized that it is an active attack on His plan, and a deliberate attempt to destroy it.  In the attack, God is assigned the attributes which are actually associated with the ego, while the ego appears to take on the attributes of God.
 
The ego's fundamental wish is to replace God.  In fact, the ego is the physical embodiment of that wish.  For it is that wish that seems to surround the mind with a body, keeping it separate and alone, and unable to reach other minds except through the body that was made to imprison it.  The limit on communication cannot be the best means to expand communication.  Yet the ego would have you believe that it is.
  
Although the attempt to keep the limitations that a body would impose is obvious here, it is perhaps not so apparent why holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.  But let us consider the kinds of things you are apt to hold grievances for.  Are they not always associated with something a body does?  A person says something you do not like.  He does something that displeases you.  He "betrays" his hostile thoughts in his behavior.
  
You are not dealing here with what the person is.  On the contrary, you are exclusively concerned with what he does in a body.  You are doing more than failing to help in freeing him from the body's limitations.  You are actively trying to hold him to it by confusing it with him, and judging them as one.  Herein is God attacked, for if His Son is only a body, so must He be as well.  A creator wholly unlike his creation is inconceivable.
  
If God is a body, what must His plan for salvation be?  What could it be but death?  In trying to present Himself as the Author of life and not of death, He is a liar and a deceiver, full of false promises and offering illusions in place of truth.  The body's apparent reality makes this view of God quite convincing.  In fact, if the body were real, it would be difficult indeed to escape this conclusion.  And every grievance that you hold insists that the body is real.  It overlooks entirely what your brother is.  It reinforces your belief that he is a body, and condemns him for it.  And it asserts that his salvation must be death, projecting this attack onto God, and holding Him responsible for it.
  
To this carefully prepared arena, where angry animals seek for prey and mercy cannot enter, the ego comes to save you.  God made you a body.  Very well.  Let us accept this and be glad.  As a body, do not let yourself be deprived of what the body offers.  Take the little you can get.  God gave you nothing.  The body is your only savior.  It is the death of God and your salvation.
  
This is the universal belief of the world you see.  Some hate the body, and try to hurt and humiliate it.  Others love the body, and try to glorify and exalt it.  But while the body stands at the center of your concept of yourself, you are attacking God's plan for salvation, and holding your grievances against Him and His creation, that you may not hear the Voice of truth and welcome It as Friend. Your chosen savior takes His place instead.  It is your friend; He is your enemy.
  
We will try today to stop these senseless attacks on salvation.  We will try to welcome it instead.  Your upside-down perception has been ruinous to your peace of mind.  You have seen yourself in a body and the truth outside you, locked away from your awareness by the body's limitations.  Now we are going to try to see this differently.

The light of truth is in us, where it was placed by God.  It is the body that is outside us, and is not our concern.  To be without a body is to be in our natural state.  To recognize the light of truth in us is to recognize ourselves as we are.  To see our Self as separate from the body is to end the attack on God's plan for salvation, and to accept it instead.  And wherever His plan is accepted, it is accomplished already.

• Intention:  We will do two long practice periods today, each of which should last some ten to fifteen minutes.  In addition we will do two shorter practice periods each hour.

• Practice:  Our goal in the longer practice periods today is to become aware that God's plan for salvation has already been accomplished in us.  To achieve this goal, we must replace attack with acceptance.  As long as we attack it, we cannot understand what God's plan for us is.  We are therefore attacking what we do not recognize.  Now we are going to try to lay judgment aside, and ask what God's plan for us is:
    
  What is salvation, Father?  I do not know.  Tell me, that I may understand.
  

    
  Then we will wait in quiet for His answer.  We have attacked God's plan for salvation without waiting to hear what it is.  We have shouted our grievances so loudly that we have not listened to His Voice.  We have used our grievances to close our eyes and stop our ears.
    
  Now we would see and hear and learn.  "What is salvation, Father?"  Ask and you will be answered.  Seek and you will find.  We are no longer asking the ego what salvation is and where to find it.  We are asking it of truth.  Be certain, then, that the answer will be true because of Whom you ask.
    
  Whenever you feel your confidence wane and your hope of success flicker and go out, repeat your question and your request, remembering that you are asking of the infinite Creator of infinity,  Who created you like Himself: 
    
  

  What is salvation, Father?  I do not know.  Tell me, that I may understand.
    
  

  He will answer.  Be determined to hear.  

• Application:    In the shorter practice periods, which you will want to do once or twice an hour, since they will be somewhat longer than usual.  These exercises should begin with this:
    
  Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.
  Let me accept it instead.  What is salvation, Father?
     
  Then wait a minute or so in silence, preferably with your eyes closed, and listen for His answer.

  ---

Insights/comments:

• Today's lesson reminds us that our salvation lies in reconnecting with the light of truth God placed within us.  It cannot be found in the outside world.  Realizing this, we can more easily give up our grievances with the world and with our brothers.  The outside world is simply the projection of our internal world with all our grievances, just as a mirror projects an image of what is held in front of it.  And when we do not like the image we see of ourselves in a mirror, we know the effective thing to do is to fix ourselves, not to hold grievances with the mirror.  So If we wish to make effective change in the world, we must be willing to let go of our grievances with the world and focus on changing ourselves.  Only then will we automatically perceive a changed world.  We are the light of the world, all we need do is turn to that light within us, be still, and listen to God's plan for our salvation, for that is the only plan that will work.

I and my Creator are One.  

July 27th 2015  Lesson 71

Only God's plan for salvation will work. 

You may not realize that the ego has set up a plan of r salvation in opposition to God's .  It is this plan in which you believe.  Since it is the opposite of God's, you also believe that to accept God's plan in place of the ego's is to be damned.  This sounds preposterous, of course.  Yet after we have considered just what the ego's plan is, perhaps you will realize that, however preposterous it may be, you do believe in it.

The ego's plan for salvation centers around holding grievances.  It maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved.  Thus, the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside yourself.  Each grievance you hold is a declaration and an assertion in which you believe, that says, "If this were different, I would be saved."  The change of mind necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything except yourself.

The role assigned to your own mind in this plan, then, is simply to determine what, other than itself, must change if you are to be saved.  According to this insane plan, any perceived source of salvation is acceptable provided that it will not work.  This ensures that the fruitless search will continue, for the illusion persists that, although this hope has always failed, there is still grounds for hope in other places and in other things.  Another person will yet serve better; another situation will yet offer success.

Such is the ego's plan for your salvation.  Surely you can see how it is in strict accord with the ego's basic doctrine, "Seek but do not find."  For what could more surely guarantee that you will not find salvation than to channelize all your efforts in searching for it where it is not?

God's plan for salvation works simply because, by following His direction, you seek for salvation where it is.  But if you are to succeed, as God promises you will, you must be willing to seek there only.  Otherwise, your purpose is divided and you will attempt to follow two plans for salvation that are diametrically opposed in all ways.  The result can only bring confusion, misery and a deep sense of failure and despair. 
   
How can you escape all this?  Very simply.  Only God's plan for salvation will work.  There can be no real conflict about this, because there is no possible alternative to God's plan that will save you.  His is the only plan that is certain in its outcome.  His is the only plan must succeed.
  

• Intention:  Let us practice recognizing this certainty today.  And let us rejoice that there is an answer to what seems to be a conflict with no resolution possible.  All things are possible to God.  Salvation must be yours because of His plan, which cannot fail.   

• Practice:  Begin the two longer practice periods for today by thinking about today's idea, and realizing that it contains two parts, each making equal contribution to the whole.  God's plan for your salvation will work, and other plans will not.  Do not allow yourself to become depressed or angry  at the second part, it is inherent in the first.  And in the first is your full release from all your own insane attempts and mad proposals to free yourself.  They have led to depression and anger; but God's plan will succeed.  It will lead to release and joy.
    
  Remembering this, let us devote the remainder of the extended practice periods to asking God to reveal His plan to us.  Ask Him very specifically:
    
  What would You have me do?
  Where would You have me go?
  What would You have me say, and to whom?.
   
  Give Him full charge of the rest of the practice period, and let Him tell you what needs to be done by you in His plan for your salvation.  He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His Voice.  Refuse not to hear.  The very fact that your are doing the exercises proves that you have some willingness to listen.  This is enough to establish your claim to God's answer.
     
• Application:   In the shorter practice periods, which you will want to do six or seven times an hour, remind yourself that God's plan for salvation, and only His, will work.  Be alert to all temptation to hold grievances today, and respond to them with this form of today's idea:  
  Holding grievances is the opposite of God's plan for salvation. 
  And only His plan will work.
  
  

         
  There could be no better way to spend a half minute or less than to remember the Source of your salvation, and to see It where It is.

  ---

Insights/comments:

• Today's lesson is simply the clear and irrefutable logic for fulfilling our function and for fulfilling the motive for everything we do--our happiness.  Our happiness, our function, and our salvation depend only on us.  It is up to us to recognizing that grievances are counter to our success and release them.  This is why we are the light of the world, and this is why the world's salvation depends on us.  Let us thus turn away from fruitless hopes and give our full attention to the only plan that will save us--God's.  

I and my Creator are One.  

July 23rd 2015  Lesson 70

My salvation comes from me. 

All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today.  Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you.  So, too, does the source of guilt.  You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else.  When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place.  In understanding this you are saved.

The seeming cost of accepting today's idea is this:  It means that nothing outside yourself can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace.  But it also means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any way.  Today's idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong because of what you are.  This is not a role that can be partially accepted.  And you must surely begin to see that accepting it is salvation.

It may not, however, be clear to you why the recognition that guilt is in your own mind entails the realization that salvation is there as well.  God would not have put the remedy for the sickness where it cannot help.  That is the way your mind has worked, but hardly His.  He wants you to be healed, so He has kept the Source of healing where the need for healing lies.

You have tried to do just the opposite, making every attempt, however distorted and fantastic it might be, to separate healing from the sickness for which it was intended, and thus keep the sickness.  Your purpose was to ensure that healing did not occur.  God's purpose was to ensure that it did.

Today we practice realizing that God's Will and ours are really the same in this.  God wants us to be healed, and we do not really want to be sick, because it makes us unhappy.  Therefore, in accepting the idea for today, we are really in agreement with God.  He does not want us to be sick.  Neither do we.  He wants us to be healed.  So do we.

• Intention:   We are ready for two longer practice periods today, each of which should last some ten to fifteen minutes.  We will, however, still let you decide when to undertake them.  We will follow this practice for a number of lessons, and it would again be well to decide in advance when would be a good time to lay aside for each of them, and then adhering to your own decisions as closely as possible.
    
• Practice:  Begin the longer practice periods by repeating the idea for today, adding a statement signifying your recognition that salvation comes from nothing outside of you. You might put it this way:
    
  My salvation comes from me.  It cannot come from anywhere else.
   
  Then devote a few minutes, with your eyes closed, to reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past;--in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real.  Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself:
     
  My salvation cannot come from any of these things.
  My salvation comes from me and only from me
    
  Now we will try again to reach the light in you, which is where your salvation is.  You cannot find it in the clouds that surround the light, and it is in them you have been looking for it.  It is not there.  It is past the clouds and in the light beyond.  Remember that you will have to go through the clouds before you can reach the light.  But remember also that you have never found anything in the cloud patterns you imagined that endured, or that you wanted.
  
  Since all illusions of salvation have failed you, surely you do not want to remain in the clouds, looking vainly for idols there, when you could so easily walk on into the light of real salvation.  Try to pass the clouds by whatever means appeals to you. If it helps you, think of me holding your hand and leading you.  And I assure you this will be no idle fantasy. 
       
• Application:   In the shorter practice periods, which you will want to do as often as possible, remind yourself that your salvation comes from you, and nothing but your own thoughts can hamper your progress.  You are free from all external interference.  You are in charge of your salvation.  You are in charge of the salvation of the world.  Say, then:  
  My salvation comes from me. Nothing outside of me can hold me back.
  Within me is the world's salvation and my own.
  
  

         

  ---

Insights/comments:

• This is a critical point in our learning.  We have believed that we were sinners, weak, and mortal, but now we know that we are the holy children of God, strong in His Holiness, wisdom and strength.  We have believed ourselves to be victims of the world, but now we know better that we are instead the light of the world.  Today's lesson takes our knowing a step further because it reveals the inescapable logical conclusion that we must therefore be the source of whatever happens to us: the source of our own guilt and unhappiness, and more importantly, the source of our own salvation and the salvation of the world.  Our experience is the reflection of what we choose to believe about ourselves.  The text of the course states this succinctly as follows:
    
  It is impossible the Son of God be merely driven by events outside of him.  It is impossible that happenings that come to him were not his choice.  His power of decision is the determiner of every situation in which he seems to find himself by chance or accident.  No accident nor chance is possible within the universe as God created it, outside of which is nothing. 

  Chap 21.II.2

I and my Creator are One.  

July 22nd 2015  Lesson 69

My grievances hide the light of the world in me. 

No one can look upon what your grievances conceal.  Because your grievances are hiding the light of the world in you, everyone stands in darkness, and you beside him.  But as the veil of your grievances is lifted, you are released with him.  share your salvation now with him who stood beside you when you were in hell.  He is your brother in the light of the world that saves you both. 
  
Today let us make another real attempt to reach the light in you.  We are literally attempting to get in touch with the salvation of the world.  We are trying to see past the veil of darkness that keeps it concealed.  We are trying to let the veil be lifted, and to see the tears of God's Son disappear in the sunlight.
    
Let us begin our longer practice period today with the full realization that this is so, and with real determination to reach what is dearer to us than all else.  Salvation is our only need.  There is no other purpose here, and no other function to fulfill.  Learning salvation is our only goal.  Let us end the ancient search today by finding the light in us, and holding it up for everyone who searches with us to look upon and rejoice.

• Intention:   One ten to fifteen minute extended practice period, and frequent short practices periods several times an hour.
    
• Practice:  Begin the longer practice period with your eyes closed, and try to let go of all the content that generally occupies your consciousness.   Think of your mind as a vast circle, surrounded by a layer of heavy, dark clouds.  You can see only the clouds because you seem to be standing outside the circle and quite apart from it.
    
  From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds.  The clouds seem to be the only reality.  They seem to be all there is to see.  Therefore, you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would be really convinced of their lack of substance.  We will make this attempt today.
    
  After you have thought about the importance of what you are trying to do for yourself and the world, try to settle down in perfect stillness, remembering only how much you want to reach the light in you today,--now!  Determine to go past the clouds.
    
  Reach out and touch them in your mind.  Brush them aside with your hand; feel them resting on your cheeks and forehead and eyelids as you go through them.  Go on; clouds cannot stop you.
    
  If you are doing the exercises properly, you will begin to feel a sense of being lifted up and carried ahead.  Your little effort and small determination call on the power of the universe to help you, and God Himself will raise you from darkness into light.  You are in accord with His Will.  You cannot fail because your will is His.
    
  Have confidence in your Father today, and be certain that He has heard you and answered you.  You may not recognize His answer yet, but you can indeed be sure that it is given you and you will yet receive it.  Try, as you attempt to go through the clouds to the light, to hold this confidence in your mind.  Try to remember that you are at last joining your will to God's.  Try to keep the thought clearly in mind that what you undertake with God must succeed.  Then let the power of God work in you and through you, that His Will and yours be done.  
  
       
• Application:   In the shorter practice periods, which you will want to do as often as possible in view of the importance of today's idea to you and your happiness, remind yourself that your grievances are hiding the light of the world from your awareness.  Remind yourself also that you are not searching for it alone, and that you do know here to look for it.  Say, then:  
    
  My grievances hide the light of the world in me.  I cannot see what I have hidden.  Yet I want to let it be revealed to me, for my salvation and the salvation of the world.
    
  

  Also, be sure to remind yourself, if you are tempted to hold anything against anyone today:

    
  

  If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me. 

         

  ---

Insights/comments:

• Knowing now that grievances, grudges, worry, etc., hide the light of the world in us, we are now more willing to release them, just as a man who realizes that he is drowning is willing to release anything heavy that is weighing him down.  And knowing that we have the light of the world is hidden within us gives us the determination to look for it there and only there, in spite of all apparent obstacles, just as someone who discovers the location of what he greatly desires focuses all his attention and effort in discovering it there, while ignoring all other locations.  Salvation is our only need, and salvation comes only from fulfilling our purpose, by being the light we were created to be for ourselves and for all the world.
  

I and my Creator are One.  

July 21st 2015  Lesson 68

Love holds no grievances. 

You who were created by love like itself can hold no grievances and know you Self.  To hold a grievance is to forget who you are.  To hold a grievance is to see yourself as a body.  To hold a grievance is to let the ego rule your mind and to condemn the body to death.  Perhaps you do not yet fully realize just what holding grievances does to your mind.  It seems to split you off from your Source and make you unlike Him.  It makes you believe that He is like what you think you have become, for no one can conceive of his Creator as unlike himself. 
  
Shut off from your Self, which remains aware of Its likeness to Its Creator, your Self seems to sleep, while the part of your mind that weaves illusions in its sleep appears to be awake.  Can all this arise form holding grievances?  Oh, yes!  For he who holds grievances denies he was created by love, and his Creator has become fearful to him in his dream of hate.  Who can dream of hatred and not fear God?
  
It is as sure that those who hold grievance will redefine God in their own image, as it is certain that God created them like Himself, and defined them as part of Him.  It is as sure that those who hold grievances will suffer guilt, as it is certain that those who forgive will find peace.  It is as sure that those who hold grievances will forget who they are, as it is certain that those who forgive will remember.
  
Would you not be willing to  relinquish your grievances if you believed all this were so?  Perhaps you do not think you can let your grievances go.  That, however, is simply a matter of motivation.  Today we will try to find out how you would feel without them.  If you succeed even by ever so little, there will never be a problem in motivation ever again.

• Intention:   One ten to fifteen minute extended practice period, and frequent short practices periods several times an hour.
    
• Practice:  Begin the longer practice period, by searching your mind for those against whom you hold what you regard as major grievances.  Some of these will be quite easy to find.  Then think of the seemingly minor grievances you hold against those you like and even think you love.  It will quickly become apparent that there is on one against whom you do not cherish grievances of some sort.  This has left you alone in all the universe in your perception of yourself.  Determine now to see all these people as friends.  Say to them all, thinking of each one in turn as you do so:
    
  I would see you as my friend, that I may remember
  you are part of me and come to know myself.
    
  Spend the remainder of the practice period trying to think of yourself as completely at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects you and loves you, and that you love in return.  Try to feel safety surrounding you, hovering over you and holding you up.  Try to believe, however briefly, that nothing can harm you in any way.  At the end of the practice period tell yourself:
    
  
  

  Love holds no grievances. 
  When I let all my grievances go I will know I am perfectly safe.
       
• Application:   The shorter practice periods, should include a quick application of today's idea in this form, whenever any thought of grievance arises against anyone, physically present or not:  
  Love holds no grievances.  Let me not betray my Self.
    
  

  In addition, repeat the idea several times an hour in this form:

    
  

  Love holds no grievances. 
  I would wake to my Self by laying all my grievances aside and wakening in Him.

         

  ---

Insights/comments:

• Today's lesson is the answer to the question of why we who are the light of the world, and who Love created as itself, do not perceive our own light?  The answer is the veil of grievances we hold against our brothers.  Our light cannot be extinguished because it was established by God Himself, but it can be hidden.  Just as a veil can cover a lamp and thus render the room in darkness, so the veil of grievances can render us blind to our own light and the light of our brothers.  But love holds no grievances, and since love created us as itself, we too can hold no grievances, so long as we remember our true identity as love.  Holding grievances hides the light of love from our awareness, leaving us in the darkness of separation, and making us vulnerable to illusions of every kind.  Let us then be vigilant to release all grievances so that we may remember our true identity.
  

I and my Creator are One.  

July 20th 2015  Lesson 67

Love created me like itself. 

Today's idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are.  This is why you are the light of the world.  This is why God appointed you as the world's savior.  This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation.  He is saved by what you are.  We will make every effort today to reach this truth about you, and to realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth.

• Intention:   It will be particularly helpful today to practice today's idea as often as you can.  Four or five times an hour, and perhaps even more, for the shorter practice periods would be most beneficial to remind yourself that love create you like itself.  You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible, because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images.
    
• Practice:  In the longer ten to fifteen minute practice period, we will think about your reality and its wholly unchanged and unchangeable nature.  We will begin by repeating this truth about you, then spend a few minutes adding some relevant thoughts, such as:
  :
  Holiness created me holy.
  Kindness created me kind.
  Helpfulness created me helpful.
  Perfection created me perfect.
    
  Any attribute which is in accord with God as He defines Himself is appropriate for use.  We are trying today to undo your definition of God and replace it with His Own.  We are also trying to emphasize that you are part of His definition of Himself.
    
  After you have gone over several such related thoughts, try to let all thoughts drop away for a brief preparatory interval, and then try to reach past all your images and preconceptions about yourself to the truth in you.  If love created you like itself, this Self must be in you.  And somewhere in your mind It is there for you to find.
    
  You may find it necessary to repeat the idea for today from time to time to replace distracting thoughts.  You may also find that this is not sufficient, and that you need to continue adding other thoughts related to the truth about yourself.  Yet perhaps you will succeed in going past that, and through the interval of thoughtlessness to the awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as love created you. 
  Be confident that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether you feel you have succeeded or not.
       
• Application:   In the shorter practice periods, try to realize that this is not your tiny, solitary voice telling you that love created you like itself.  This is the Voice for God, reminding you of your Father and of your Self.  This is the Voice of truth, replacing everything that the ego tells you about yourself with the simple truth about the Son of God.  You were created by love like itself.
       
  

  ---

Insights/comments:

• Today's lesson emphasizes the true definition of God as Love.  And we, the holy children of God, His one creation, must be as He is--Love.  God can give to His creation only what He is, and we, His creation can only have what He gave us.  Just like a duck produces ducklings, fish produce fish, humans produce humans, so are we created from God can only be gods.  This is our undeniable inheritance, whatever God is, that we are as well.  It is of utmost importance that we have the true definition of God and our relationship to Him, if we wish to know our true identity.  Are we the children of God or were we created by some other entity?  The logical answer to this is apparent, for God created all that exists, so we who exist must be, in the least, a part of His creation, or in the most, His only creation.  It is time we come to terms with our true identity and stop fronting that we are something we are not.  We cannot be sinful, weak, powerless, or mortal, for that is not what God is.  We are His progeny and must be like He is, Love!
  

I and my Creator are One.  

July 17th 2015  Lesson 66

My happiness and my function are one. 

You have surely noticed an emphasis throughout our recent lessons on the connection between fulfilling your function and achieving happiness.  This is because you do not really see the connection.  Yet there is more than just a connection between them; they are the same.  Their forms are different, but their content is completely one.

The ego does constant battle with the Holy Spirit on the fundamental question of what your function is.  So does it do constant battle with the Holy Spirit about what your happiness is.  It is not a two-way battle.  The ego attacks and the Holy Spirit does not respond.  He knows what your function is.  He knows that it is your happiness.

• Intention:   Today we will try to go past this wholly meaningless battle and arrive at the truth about your function.  We will not engage in senseless arguments about what it is.  We will not become hopelessly involved in defining happiness and determining the means for achieving it.  We will not indulge the ego by listening to its attacks on truth.  We will merely be glad that we can find out what truth is.
  
  Our longer practice period today has as its purpose your acceptance of the fact that not only is there a very real connection between the function God gave you and your happiness, but that they are actually identical.  God gives you only happiness. Therefore, the function He gave you must be happiness, even if it appears to be different. Today's exercises are an attempt to go beyond these differences in appearance, and recognize a common content where it exists in truth.
    
• Practice:  Begin the ten-to-fifteen-minute practice period by reviewing these thoughts:
    
  God gives me only happiness.
  He has given my function to me.
  Therefore my function must be happiness.
    
  Try to see the logic in this sequence, even if you do not yet accept the conclusion.  It is only if the first two thoughts are wrong that the conclusion could be false.  Let us, then, think about the premises for a while, as we are practicing.
  
  The first premise is that God gives you only happiness.  This could be false, of course, but in order to be false it is necessary to define God as something He is not.  Love cannot give evil, and what is not happiness is evil.  God cannot give what He does not have, and He cannot have what He is not.  Unless God gives you only happiness, He must be evil.  And it is this definition of Him you are believing if you do not accept the first premise.
  
  The second premise is that God has given you your function.  We have seen that there are only two parts of your mind.  One is ruled by the ego, and is made up of illusions.  The other is the home of the Holy Spirit, where truth abides.  There are no other guides but these to choose between, and no other outcomes possible as a result of your choice but the fear that the ego always engenders, and the love that the Holy Spirit always offers to replace it.
  
  Thus, it must be that your function is established by God through His Voice, or is made by the ego which you have made to replace Him.  Which is true?  Unless God gave your function to you, it must be the gift of the ego.  Does the ego really have gifts to give, being itself an illusion and offering only the illusion of gifts?
  
  Think about this during the longer practice period today.  Think also about the many forms the illusion of your function has taken in your mind, and the many ways in which you tried to find salvation under the ego's guidance.  Did you find it?  Were you happy?  Did they bring you peace? We need great honesty today.  Remember the outcomes fairly, and consider also whether it was ever reasonable to expect happiness from anything the ego ever proposed.  Yet the ego is the only alternative to the Holy Spirit's Voice.
  
  You will listen to madness or hear the truth.  Try to make this choice as you think about the premises on which our conclusion rests.  We can share in this conclusion, but in no other.  For God Himself shares it with us.  Today's idea is another giant stride in the perception of the same as the same, and the different as different.  On one side stand all illusions.  All truth stands on the other.  Let us try today to realize that only the truth is true.
       
• Application:   In the shorter practice periods, which would be most helpful today if undertaken twice an hour, this form of the application is suggested:
    
  My happiness and function are one, because God has given me both.
  . 
  It will not take more than a minute, and probably less, to repeat these words slowly and think about them a little while as you say them.
            
  

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Insights/comments:

• It is very fortunate that our function and our happiness are one and the same.  It is certainly true, even in our make-believe world that fulfilling one's function brings great happiness, and a sense of satisfaction.  Dogs for example are quite happy when they can run and jump and bark; fish, likewise are happy when they can swim, and birds are happy when it can fly.  Just so, we the children of God are happy when we can fulfill the function God gave to us.  And that function is to be a light unto the world.  We are what God created us to be; we are His one creation, His only begotten, His Kingdom, His completion.  We are perfect, Spirit, free, at one with God, and can never not be what He created us to be.  This is why we are the light of the world, and even as we appear to be human beings we are truly beings of light; more correctly light-beings.  Light is what we emit because that is what we are.  As light-beings, we naturally emit light, which is our natural function, it is what we do because of what we are, and because we cannot change what we are, we also cannot change our natural function.  Our function is a natural consequence of what we are, and because it is one with our happiness, it is our natural source of happiness.  We need not work, strive, struggle, nor sacrifice to perform our natural function to be happy, because they are one and the same and what we naturally are, so it is therefore not incorrect to say that we are naturally happy.  Happiness is what we naturally are, it is not something we have to become.     
    
  Everyone is in search of more happiness, this is what occupies our time, and is the ultimate motive for all that we do.  We want happiness to last, but now we know that it is easy to achieve, because it is inextricably tied to our function, and one cannot help but perform one's function, it is what we were made for it is our purpose.
  

I and my Creator are One.  

July 16th 2015  Lesson 65

My only function is the one God gave me. 

The idea for today reaffirms your commitment to salvation.  It also reminds you that you have no function other than that.  Both these thoughts are obviously necessary for a total commitment.  Salvation cannot be the only purpose you hold while you still cherish others.  The full acceptance of salvation as your only function necessarily entails two phases; the recognition of salvation as your function, and the relinquishment of all the other goals you have invented for yourself. 
  
This is the only way in which you can take your rightful place among the saviors of the world.  This is the only way in which you can say and mean, "My only function is the one God gave me."  This is the only way in which you can find peace of mind.
  
Today's idea offers you escape from all your perceived difficulties.  It places the key to the door of peace, which you have closed upon yourself, in your own hands.  It gives you the answer to all the searching you have done since time began.

• Intention:   Today and for a number of days to follow, set aside ten to fifteen minutes for a more sustained practice period, in which you try to understand and accept what the idea for the day really means.  Try, if possible, to undertake the daily extended practice periods at approximately the same time each day.  Try, also, to determine this time in advance, and adhere to it as closely as possible.  The purpose of this is to arrange your day so that you have set apart tie time for God, as well as for all the trivial purposes and goals you will pursue.  This is part of the long-range disciplinary training your mind needs, so that the Holy Spirit can use it consistently for the purpose He shares with you.  
    
• Practice:  For the longer practice period, begin by reviewing the idea for the day.  Then close your eyes, repeat the idea to yourself once again, and watch your mind carefully to catch whatever thoughts cross it.  At first, make no attempt to concentrate only on thoughts related to the idea for the day.  Rather, try to uncover each thought that arises to interfere with it.  Note each one as it comes to you, with as little involvement or concern as possible, dismissing each one by telling yourself: 
      
  This thought reflects a goal that is preventing me from accepting my only function.
  After a while, interfering thoughts will become harder to find.  Try, however, to continue a minute or so longer, attempting to catch a few of the idle thoughts that escaped your attention before, but do not strain or make undue effort in doing this.  Then tell yourself:
   
  On this clean slate let my true function be written for me.
    
  

  You need not use these exact words, but try to get the sense of being willing to have your illusions of purpose be replaced by truth.
    

  Finally, repeat the idea for today once more, and devote the rest of the practice period to trying to focus on its importance to you,  the relief its acceptance will bring you by resolving your conflicts once and for all, and the extent to which you really want salvation in spite of your own foolish ideas to the contrary.
    
• Application:   In the shorter practice periods, which should be undertaken at least once an hour, use this form in applying today's idea:
    
  My only function is the one God gave me. 
  I want no other and I have no other.
    
  Sometimes close your eyes as you practice this, and sometimes keep them ope and look about you.  It is what you see now that will be totally changed when you accept today's idea completely.
            
  

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Insights/comments:

• We are the light of the world, therefore our function is to be a light unto the world.  This is the only function given us by our Creator.  Our forgiveness is the means by which we light the world, and fulfilling our function is the source of happiness, therefore forgiveness is the source of our happiness.  So, again: 
    
   Forgive yourself
  for all the things you did or didn’t do; that you thought you should or shouldn’t do,
  forgive yourself; give yourself a break; let yourself off the hook;
  give yourself the chance to make corrections,
  and allow that higher power (Creator) within you
  to guide you in this ongoing process of recreating yourself.
  And forgive another
  Let them off the hook, give them the chance to make corrections.
  Know that everyone without exception is doing the very best they can, and
  know that everyone without exception is suffering in some way.
  This engenders compassion and patience within us.
  And Forgive everyone everything!
  Let go of the need to blame or to punish,
  Let go of the need to be right and for another to be wrong.
  Let go of guilt and shame.
  Let go of all of that, and rejoice in your uniqueness.
  In all of creation, there’s only one of you.
  This means that you are special and valuable beyond measure,
  but it also means that everyone else is special and valuable too.
  Though we come from and share the same Source,
  we are all special and valuable in our own ways.
  Remember that you are loved and cared for —
  Life loves you; Life cares for you; Life values you, always!
  All of life benefits from your presence and from your experience!
  Remember that everyday is another opportunity to
  express the Divinity within you.
  Be kind to yourself and good; be kind and good to all others as well.
   

I and my Creator are One.