The state of grace is an aspect of the love of God which is most like the state prevailing in the unity of truth. It is the world's most lofty aspiration, for it leads beyond the world entirely. Grace is ''acceptance of the love of God within a world of seeming hate and fear." By grace alone the hate and fear are gone, for grace presents a state so opposite to everything the world contains, that those whose minds are lighted by the gift of grace can not believe the world of fear is real. And indeed, as we will learn, the world of fear is not real.

Grace is not learned, nor is it the goal this course aspires to attain. Yet we prepare for grace in that an open mind can hear the Call to waken. It is not shut tight against God's Voice. It has become aware that there are things it does not know, and thus is ready to accept a state completely different from experience with which it is familiarly at home. In your natural state, the state of grace, there is no difficulty at all, because it is a state of grace.

When the Son of God is out of the state of grace, he is out of his natural environment and does not function well. Everything he does becomes a strain, because he was not created for the environment he has made. He therefore cannot adapt to it, nor can he adapt it to him. A Son of God is happy only when he knows he is with God. That is the only environment in which he will not experience strain, because that is where he belongs. It is also the only environment that is worthy of him, because his own worth is beyond anything he can make.

Consider the kingdom you have made for yourself, and judge it fairly. Is it worthy to be a home for a child of God? Does it protect your peace and shine love upon you at every turn? Does it keep your heart untouched by fear, and allow you to give always without any sense of loss? Does it teach you that giving is your joy and that God Himself thanks you for giving? If not, then the kingdom you have made is not the environment for you.

An environment called the Kingdom of Heaven was created for you, as you were created for it. In Heaven God watches over His children and denies them nothing. Yet when you deny Him you do not know this, because in denying God you are denying yourself everything. You do not know yourself because though you were created in the image of your Creator, you do not know Him. But you can know. Being is known by sharing. Because God shared His Being with you, you can know Him. If you but knew the meaning of His Love, hope and despair would be impossible. For hope would be forever satisfied; despair of any kind would be unthinkable. His grace is His answer to all despair, for in it lies the remembrance of His Love.

So we ask for grace, and for experience that comes from grace. We welcome the release it offers everyone. As you choose the state of grace instead of the chaos of the world, you will experience what "release" really means. We are not asking for the unaskable. We are not looking beyond what grace can give. Experience that grace provides will end in time, for grace foreshadows Heaven, yet does not replace the thought of time but for a little while. This interval suffices. You will finally be lifted into Heaven, into your home with God forever, into the environment for which you were created, where there is no strain, where your heart beats in tune with God, where there is only God's Love, and where GOD IS.