Lesson 43: God is my source. I cannot see apart from Him.

In the dream you “see” with perception. If you choose the ego as your guide for seeing, your perception will be false. When you choose the Holy Spirit as your guide for seeing, your perception will be true. Yet perception (whether it is true or false) is still not knowledge, and seeing is still not vision. Thus, choosing your guide to seeing is a pivotal step toward your goal.

Perception has no function in God, and does not exist in Him. Yet in the dream, perception has a mighty purpose given to it by the Holy Spirit. It is the means for the restoration of the awareness of holiness in your mind. The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between perception and knowledge. In the dream (our time in this world), with Him as our remaining link with God, your perception will become so changed and purified that it will lead to knowledge. That is its function as the Holy Spirit sees it. Therefore, healed perception becomes the means by which the Son of God forgives his brother and thus forgives himself, and healed perception will ultimately lead you to God.

You cannot see apart from God because you cannot be apart from God. Whatever you do, you do in Him. Whatever you think, you think with His Mind. Whatever you see, you see with His light. Whenever you appear to be seeing with the body’s eyes, you are seeing only images projected by the ego. The ego is not real, nor are the images it projects. Therefore, when using the body’s eyes, you are actually not seeing at all. In essence, you are “imaging.” And when you think without God, you are not thinking at all. In essence, you are “imagining.” Many images and thoughts are whirling around on the surface of your mind (yes?) and they are not real; there are so many in number that they can be dizzying. It is these we must forgive and forget in order to see the light, and in order to think clearly.

Lesson 44: God is the light in which I see.

Jesus says that you made darkness, and then thought you could see in it. Yet you cannot see in darkness, and you cannot make light. In order to see, then, you must recognize that light is within, not without. This light of God is with you always, making vision possible in every circumstance.

There is no situation that is exempt from the light. Even if you think it is hidden in darkness, it is not. If there is something that you are having particular difficulty in seeing, it is only because you are not choosing to see it. Perhaps seeing it holds more fear for you than you are willing or able to admit? If you will stand aside from the ego by ever so little, you will have no difficulty in recognizing that its opposition and its fears are meaningless. The ego’s ruse is no longer visible when God is the light in which you see. Nothing that you think you see now bears any resemblance to what vision will show you. Seeing with God, then, is the only sure way to choose.

Lesson 45: God is the Mind with which I think.

Today’s idea holds the key to what your real thoughts are. They are nothing that you think you think, just as nothing that you think you see is related to vision in any way. There is no relationship between what is real, and what you think or see as real. And there is no relationship between the light of the world, and the Light of God. Ergo, there is no relationship to your sojourn on this earth, and your life in Heaven – is there?

In truth, you think with the Mind of God, sharing your thoughts with Him as He shares His with you. They are the same thoughts as they are thought with the same Mind. These original Thoughts have never left your mind because thoughts do not leave their source. They can be shared, but not lost.

How do you rid your mind of these “thoughts” that are not real, and where do you find your real thoughts? The unreal thoughts must be corrected, forgiven and forgotten – given to the Holy Spirit for removal. Underneath these unreal thoughts are your real thoughts, deep in your mind at the altar to God and to the Son. They must still be there, because they cannot have left their source.

Today, now, you will begin ridding your mind of the unreal and choose the real. You will deny the world in favor of truth, because this is the happy choice; it is your will shared with God’s Will for your perfect happiness. Only what God would have you do is possible. And only what God would have you do is what you want to do. Also remember that you cannot fail in doing what He would have you do. Thus, there is every reason to be confident that you will succeed today. Say this:

“My real thoughts are in my mind. I will to find them.” (W-45)

Now go past all the unreal thoughts that cover the truth in your mind, and reach to the eternal. Under all the senseless thoughts and mad ideas with which you have cluttered your mind are the foundational thoughts that you thought with God in the beginning, unchanged and unchangeable. Stand aside from all thoughts that are unworthy of Him whose host you are. Sooner or later this exercise will take you higher than you ever thought you could reach. This is no idle game that children play, but an exercise in holiness and in reaching the Kingdom of Heaven – YOUR HOME!

Lesson 46: God is the Love in which I forgive.

First, understand this. God’s Love is the basis for forgiveness. Yet God does not forgive because He has never condemned. There must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. Fear condemns and love forgives. Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God. Therefore, forgiveness is the means by which all illusions and all thoughts and images of the ego disappear.

Second, you condemn only yourself, so you forgive only yourself. There is a subliminal self-criticism or condemnation that is nearly always occurring in your mind even without you being consciously aware of it. This process is reversed the instant you are willing to forgive and to see beyond it. The Holy Spirit, Who is with you always, knows when you are willing and ready to forgive. He is the One Who actually does the forgiving. You are the one who is willing.

When a person is working hard to relieve stress through spiritual means, through understanding and forgiveness and miracles, it sometimes seems harder at first before good progress is realized. The more you release, the more you see that you need to release – and it escalates. There is an end to it, however, and it is called salvation. Salvation is easy, as it is the most natural thing in the world. The ego would make it seem difficult, especially in the beginning, because it does not want you to change your allegiance from the unreal to the real, from it to God -- for if you do, the ego will disappear.

Yes, it is far easier to forgive than to hold a grievance, and it is far WISER. Simply understand that the things being said and done that are not of God, all the things that cause the unrest, stem from lack of understanding. Lack of understanding stems from lack of mind training. (That has been my reason, and I can see it is the reason of others as well.) So like Jesus said “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” Even if people seem very well aware of what they are doing or saying, they are not fully aware of what it is doing to themselves, or they would not be doing it. Remember, you only condemn yourself!

Forgive and then: No more tension. No more stress. No more ego unhappiness.

Lesson 47: God is the strength in which I trust.

If you are trusting in your own strength, you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful. What can you predict or control? What is there in you that can be counted on? What would give you the ability to be aware of all the facets of any problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? What is there in you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished? The ego is certainly no reassurance.

Of yourself you can do none of these things. To believe that you can is to put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression, anger and sorrow. Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak? Think how lovely it will be when in any circumstance you know exactly what to think, say and do for the maximum benefit for all. With God, you can know!

The purpose of this lesson is to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength, so that you gain confidence in the face of all problems and decisions that need to be addressed in this world. Your “weakness” comes from attempting to do anything as an independent unit, separate from God and the Holy Spirit, operating instead under the false guidance of the ego.

The lesson is asking you to recognize that you are not limited to weakness, even in this world. It is asking you to remember your union with God, your union with His strength, to align your thoughts with His, and to look to the Holy Spirit for guidance in this and in all things. God is your safety in every circumstance. His Voice will tell you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection all through the day in every situation and in every aspect of all situations – and there are no exceptions because God has no exceptions to His Will. Reach down below all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, to find the place in you where the strength of God abides and where there is perfect peace. His light will shine the way.

Lesson 48: There is nothing to fear.

That there is nothing to fear is a simple fact. God is all there is, and you are part of Him; nothing outside Him exists. And God is only love, not fear. Fear is a belief in something other than God (ego) that pretends to have a power that opposes and overcomes the Will of God. If you believe in illusions (always fostered by the ego), then, fear seems very real. But illusions are nothing, therefore the fear that they appear to arouse is also nothing. These illusions serve but to validate the ego, and since the ego is not real either, the entire process is merely a fabrication of the ego mind, a mind that is not yours, not God’s and therefore not real and not true. By aligning your mind with the Mind of God, you recognize the ever-present truth of your reality. Your reality is not fear; it is L O V E.

Lesson 49: God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way. The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, even though you may not be aware of it. The purpose of this lesson is to ask you to identify with that part of your mind, and let the other part (ego) go simply by choosing not to listen to it, nor to listen to the ego in your brother. (Rather than opposing a topic of conversation, gently change the subject when talking to a brother if the conversation becomes banal or superfluous.) Your real mind is calm, always at rest and wholly certain. It is really the only part there is. Listen to it. Identify with the stillness and peace in it which reign forever. Hear God’s Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son. Close your eyes on the world; invite God’s Voice to speak to you. He will. ❤