Lesson 190: I choose the joy of God instead of pain.

The purpose of this lesson is to realize that pain is a wrong perspective, an illusion, and that its opposite, joy, is truth and reality. When pain is experienced in any form, it is a proof of self-deception. It is not a fact at all. There is no form pain takes that will not disappear if it is seen aright. If a part of you believes that pain is real, then a part of you still believes that there is no God, or that God is not wholly loving, or that God has abandoned you. Yet none of these are true.

“It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can

hurt or injure you in any way . . . No one but yourself affects you.” (5:1-2,4)

Think on this awhile: The world you see does nothing. It has no effects at all. It merely represents your thoughts. The world you see will change entirely as you elect to change your mind, and choose the joy of God as what you really want. Joy is quite simple to choose. Pain is illusion; joy is reality. Pain is but sleep; joy is awakening. Pain is deception; joy is truth. So choose joy and be happy.

Lesson 191: I am the holy Son of God Himself.

Here is your declaration of release from the bondage of the world. Let today’s idea find a place among your thoughts and you will have risen far above the world, and all its worldly thoughts. And from this place of safety and escape, accept your true Identity, and then return to the world and show your brothers what you have learned -- that you are the holy Son of God Himself – and so are they. Show them that you cannot be in pain, you cannot suffer loss, and there is nothing that you cannot do. All power in Heaven and on earth has been given you. Demonstrate the truth to them and let your mercy shine upon them and bless them.

Lesson 192: I have a function God would have me fill.

In Heaven your function is to complete God; you are his sacred Son, forever pure as He. Yet you have a function in the world called forgiveness. Forgiveness looks beyond error to the truth, and thus it is the means by which error is undone. The mind without the body cannot make mistakes. Therefore, forgiveness helps you perceive the body as what it is; a simple teaching aid, to be laid by when learning is complete. Only forgiveness can relieve the mind of thinking that the body is its home. Only forgiveness can persuade the Son to look again upon his holiness.

Who can be born again in Christ but him who has forgiven everyone he sees or thinks of or imagines? And who could be set free while he imprisons anyone? A jailer is not free, for he is bound together with his prisoner. Each one who seems to tempt you to be angry represents yet another opportunity to be saved from this illusory world of fear and death and to choose again, to choose not to judge or to hold a grudge, but to choose peace. And so you owe him thanks instead of judgment. Your function here on earth is only to forgive your brothers that you may remember your Identity. It is a requisite. You will not remember God or your Identity with the excess baggage of unforgiveness blocking the way. Forgive them all now and rise above this earth straight to Heaven, to God.

Lesson 193: All things are lessons God would have me learn.

God does not know of learning. He is omniscient; He knows all. And He created you in His Image of Light and Love and so you know all, too. Yet when you thought of separating from God and from Heaven, you put yourself in a position where you now must undo the learning you have accepted as true here, in order to release your mind to the freedom of remembering who you are and what you know with God. And thus you will return to the happiness you once knew, and yet have not forgotten.

God wills the happiness His Son inherited of Him to be undisturbed, eternal, and forever expanding in the joy of full creation. And thus His Will provides the means to guarantee that it is done. These are the workbook lessons God would have you learn. Each lesson has a central thought, the same in all of them. Though the form of each of them concerns different circumstances and events, with different characters and different themes, all are apparent -- yet none of them are real. Their content is this:

Forgive, and you will see this differently. (3:6)

This is the content underneath the form of each lesson. Say these words when you are tempted to believe that pain, sickness and death are real. These are the words which give you power over all events that seem to have power over you. You can tell if you are seeing wrong if pain seems real in the perception. If so, there is an unforgiveness hiding in the mind. Unearth it and forgive it.

God would not have even one unforgiveness or even one tear, or one thorn or nail hurt His holy Son in any way. There is a correction for every one, easily available through One Who will lead you home. Save nothing to be settled by yourself. Keep nothing apart from healing. Give all you can, and give a little more as you would make haste to go unto your Father’s house. There is a way to look on everything that lets it be to you another step to the remembrance of Him:

I will forgive, and this will disappear. (13:3)

These words are the key that opens Heaven’s gate, and brings the love of God the Father down to earth at last to raise it up to Heaven. Accept these lessons that lead to Him, and be happy and whole!

Lesson 194: I place the future in the Hands of God.

God holds your future as He holds your past and present. They are one to Him, and so they should be one to you. Yet in this world, the temporal progression still seems real. And so you are not asked to understand the lack of sequence really found in time. You are but asked to let the future go, and place it in God’s Hands. And you will see by your experience that you have laid the past and present in His Hands as well, since the past will punish you no more, and future dread will be meaningless.

Now are you saved indeed, for in God’s Hands you rest untroubled, sure that only good can come to you. If you forget, you will be gently reassured. If you accept an unforgiving thought, it will soon be replaced by love’s reflection. And if you are tempted to attack, you will ask the Holy Spirit to choose for God for you. No longer will the world be your enemy, for you have chosen that you be its Friend.

Lesson 195: Love is the way I walk in gratitude.

Train your mind to think of gratitude instead of anger, malice and revenge. You have been given everything. If you refuse to recognize it, you do not have the right to bitterness or thoughts of defeat. Yet by being loving, you will learn that everything has the right to love. God loves you, He cares for you and calls you Son. Is anything in the world more important or more relevant than this?

Lesson 196: It can be but myself I crucify.