Do you see any part of the world as a prison? If so, choose instead to see the world as a place where you can be set free. When the Son of God chooses, the world obeys. You have dominion. (W-38.5:5)

Lesson 57: Review of Lessons 31-35.

You are not the victim or the prisoner of the world you see. You can be free simply by choosing to be – by relinquishing your insane wishes, dropping the chains which appear to bind you, and walking into the sunlight. You can do this because you are your own jailer. You have been seeing everything upside down, the opposite of truth. Look upon the world as it is, with Christ’s vision, and you will see the world as a place of freedom and love. The world reflects the love of God, and therefore it also reflects the laws of God. Peace, not war, abides in this world and in the hearts of all who share it with you. This is a peace that comes from deep within yourself, from the light of God. This light will show you the holiness of all living things, including yourself, where oneness abides.

The review today echoes with the word “freedom.” The beauty of acknowledging that you have invented the world you see is that it affirms your freedom to see it differently. Recognize that you have made up your own prison in your mind by choosing illusions instead of truth. Allow yourself to choose to be free of these illusions. You choose your own thoughts, and you can choose again. You can see peace anytime you choose, and it depends on nothing outside you.

“I understand that this peace comes from deep within myself.” (W-57.5:2)

Lesson 58: Review of Lessons 36-40.

Ah, holiness, the answer to every question every asked, is being asked now, or will ever be asked. The perception of the real world comes from your holiness, from accepting the innocence that is the truth about you. Everyone and everything you see in the light of your holiness shares in the joy it brings, because the living world is also holy, and all shines forth as you see the world that vision will show you. Recognizing your holiness is recognizing your salvation and the salvation of the world. And what is there to be saved from except illusions – where all guilt, unhappiness and scarcity in any form appear to emerge? Yet in the presence of your holiness, which you share with God Himself, all these idols vanish, all imprisoning forms of nothingness disappear. Once you have accepted your holiness, nothing can make you afraid. Fear is not the natural state of the Son of God; LOVE IS.

You see, the way you see the world is derived from the way you see yourself. That is why accepting the Atonement for yourself saves the world. You are blessed as a Son of God. Herein lies your claim to all good and only good. You cannot suffer any loss or deprivation or pain because of who you are. When you really believe that innocence is the truth about you, all you will see anywhere is innocence and holiness. Whatever you think about yourself or how many errors you perceive yourself as having made, you are still God’s Son. You are still innocent as you were created, and you are still holy. And as your own innocence arises in your mind, the holiness of the entire world shines forth simultaneously, because what you see without is the same as what you see within:

“I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.” (W-58.1:5)

Lesson 59: Review of Lessons 41-45.

The first emphasis of these five ideas is on God; every thought begins with “God.” God is always with you, He is your strength, your Source, your light and is in the Mind with which you think.

How can you be alone when God always goes with you? How can you be doubtful and unsure of yourself when perfect certainty abides in Him – and He is with you? How can you be disturbed by anything when He rests in you in absolute peace? How can you suffer when love and joy surround you through Him? Think on this . . . His Presence in you assures your acceptance, safety, and peace.

You are PERFECT because God goes with you wherever you go. He is your strength and Christ’s vision is His gift. The truth is that you can see only what God wants you to see. Anything else is not seen; it is only imagined. Illusions seen in darkness cannot take the place of truth seen in light. His is the only light. Welcome it and the happy world it will show you. You have no sight apart from God and no thoughts you do not share with God. How could you, when your mind is part of His Mind? You will think and see only what God thinks and sees. This is not tyranny; it is blessed PEACE.

Lesson 60. Review of Lessons 46-50.

God is the Love in which you forgive. God does not forgive because He has never condemned. The blameless do not blame, and those who have accepted their innocence, which is their birthright as the Son of God, see nothing to blame and nothing to forgive. Therefore, to see innocence in yourself is to see it in everyone. Remember, you can only picture the thoughts you hold about yourself. (W-58.1:5)

Yet forgiveness is the means by which you will recognize your innocence. It is the stirring of the strength of God in you which you are remembering as you forgive. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth which will lift you to seeing and expressing the truth. Forgiveness will show you a safe world, a world where everyone and everything you see will lean toward you to bless you. You will see only dearly loved and loving friends. Is this the kind of world you see now?

As long as you see something less than that, there is forgiveness work to be done. You are to forgive the world so completely that ALL you see is love, in everyone and everything. Anything less than that denotes that forgiveness is not complete. Only by removing every barrier to love will you come to know the fullness of the love that you are and GOD IS. The strength of God in you enables you to do this. Is a loving world the kind of world you will to see? Forgive and love, then.

Admittedly sometimes your footsteps may seem to falter. Yet there is not a moment in which God’s Voice ceases to call on your forgiveness to save you. Seeing past forms and illusions, you will see the light in all your brothers, in all the world. The Holy Spirit will direct your every thought, guide your every action and lead your feet to walk steadily on toward truth. There is nowhere else you can go, because God’s Voice is the only Voice and the only Guide that He has given to His Son. You are sustained by God’s Love. As you open your eyes, His Love lights up the world for you to see truly. As you look upon the world with the vision God has given you, you will remember you are His Son!

Lesson 61: I am the light of the world.

In the early days of studying the course, you may not see yourself as the light of the world. Some days you perhaps feel more like the last dying ember in the fireplace. But this lesson is not talking about how you feel; it is talking about what you are in truth.

“It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you have endowed yourself.

It refers to you as you were created by God. It simply states the truth.” (W-61.1:5-6)

Getting off the “poor me, I need to be saved” bandwagon, and onto the path of “I am a bringer of salvation,” is a major turning point. At first it may seem that this idea asks too much of you. That belief is where the problem lies. It is not arrogance to assert that this is your function. True humility requires that you accept this idea because it is God’s Voice Which tells you it is true.

“I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here.” (W-61.5:3-5)

Lesson 62: Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.

Through your forgiveness, the truth about yourself returns to your memory. Therefore, your salvation from fear to love is recognized when you forgive. Thoughts of attack/separation must be replaced by thoughts of love/joining. In every attack you are calling upon your own weakness to defend your false self, while each time you forgive you are calling upon the strength of Christ in you to accept your real Self. Unforgiveness is an unwelcome strain. As you call upon the Christ in you, thoughts of love enter your mind and you relax and begin to recognize the Christ as your true Self.

Now do you understand what forgiveness will do for you? It will remove all sense of weakness, strain and fatigue from your mind and take away all fear, guilt and pain. It will restore to your awareness the invulnerability and power and protection God gave you in your creation. A worldly light shines away the darkness in a room. God’s light (thoughts of love and truth) shines away the world of darkness (thoughts of fear and anger). Let us be glad to be God’s light, glad to forgive. In the Bible in 2 Corinthians 9:7 it states: “ . . . for God loves a cheerful giver.” Let us also be a cheerful for-giver.

“Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.

I would fulfill my function that I may be happy.”

(W-62.5:2-3)

Lesson 63: The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.

The purpose of this lesson is to become aware of the power in you to bring peace to every mind along with yours, to recognize the means (forgiveness and holiness) by which you can do this, and to experience the resulting happiness.

Yet when you accept a lesser purpose, you inevitably forget the primary one. For example, you may have expectations about what someone should do or say. When they do not “perform” as you expect or desire, then you may allow yourself to be thrown off your path into unforgiveness, and then your true purpose or holy intention may be side-tracked, and thus you have led yourself astray. Lesser purposes may cause you to completely overlook your true function of forgiveness and being the light of the world and bringing peace to every mind, and instead bring the disruption of peace instead of the fulfillment of joy.

“Our footsteps have not been unwavering, and doubts have made us walk uncertainly

and slowly on the road this course sets forth. But now we hasten on, for we approach

a greater certainty, a firmer purpose and a surer goal.” (W-pl.rV.In.1:5).

Remember, “We go together, you and I.” No one travels alone. You have many Helpers in many forms given to you by God. Their names are legion; certainly the name of Jesus is known to us all. Accept Their Help; it will save time and effort and help you avoid pitfalls and delays along the Way. ❤