LESSON TWENTY-SEVEN

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

Above all else I want to see.

Apparently I have been quite blind to Reality for what appears to be an eternity.

Dear Sisters, dear Brothers, indeed You have.  And yet it is a self-induced disability from which You can recover easily, with a simple change of mind shifting Me to We.

Before the separation, which seemed like a neat idea – and wasn’t, for it was self-impelled in a step from We to Me – Your Oneness stands untouched, the basis of all Eternity.  You just ignore it, preferring special, partial ‘love’ instead.

Yet right beyond Your present sight, it seems that something else is there, and, indeed, it is.  And today We will seek to find It.

¹ Today’s idea expresses something stronger than mere determination. It gives vision priority among your desires. You may feel hesitant about using the idea on the ground that you are not sure you really mean it. This does not matter. The purpose of today’s exercises is to bring the time when the idea will be wholly true a little nearer.

What You tell Yourself does rule in the dream.  Why not use that capacity to speak of Reality?

² There may be a great temptation to believe that some sort of sacrifice is being asked of you when you say you want to see above all else. 

– This is the ego sense, suggesting You use caution with an idea that risky! (Tricky little devil is the ego.) –

If you become uneasy about the lack of reservation involved, add:

³ Vision has no cost to anyone.

It is Your Gift from God, freely given.

⁴ If fear of loss still persists, add further:

⁵ It can only bless.

I am not afraid; it is the ego.

God has only Good for Me.  I am safe.  I am very Loved.  I am Loved by God.  His Love is so powerful, yet gentle.

And I can relax.  I can lean on the everlasting arms, safe in Love’s embrace.

⁶ The idea for today needs many repetitions for maximum benefit. It should be used at least every half hour, and more often if possible. You might try for every 15 or 20 minutes. It is recommended that you set a definite time interval for using the idea when you wake or shortly afterwards and attempt to adhere to it throughout the day. It will not be difficult to do this, even if you are engaged in conversation or otherwise occupied at the time. You can still repeat one short sentence to yourself without disturbing anything that is going on.

I am Loved by God.  It is safe to see.

⁷ The real question is how often will you remember? How much do you want today’s idea to be true? Answer one of these questions, and you have answered the other. You will probably miss several applications and perhaps quite a number. Do not be disturbed by this, but do try to keep on your schedule from then on. If only once during the day you feel that you were perfectly sincere while you were repeating today’s idea, you can be sure that you have saved yourself many years of effort.

And will save Yourself many more years of pain and suffering – any time You heed My words to choose again – which can now be exchanged for freedom.

Are You a little willing yet, to have that little willingness for which I’ve asked?

The Love of God is ever-present, here for Us at every instant.

LESSON TWENTY-SIX

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

Which are their only purpose, to keep You locked within the dream of a false perception of Yourself, and a prisoner forever in a cell of Your own making.

You are like the infant Prince, kidnapped by the gypsies, twenty years gone by when they return to the castle town.  You are instantly recognized by the Grand Vizir who runs up to You insisting that You are the long-lost Prince.

Happy as a gypsy, You protest, saying: “No, I’m not, look at Me! I am dressed like a gypsy, act like a gypsy, and I do think gypsy thoughts.  And I’m very happy as a gypsy.  As life goes, it’s fun!”

“That may be, thinking that You’re ‘only human.’” responds the Grand Vizir.  “Nonetheless You are the Prince.  See Your perfect likeness to the King!”

Slowly – oh so very slowly – does the realization dawn on You that You are much more than ‘human’, run by the ego .

How long must We – the Father, I, and the Holy Spirit – remind You of Your Indivisibility with God?  What payoff do You get for Your denial, other than more misery and painful vulnerability and the ability to stay insane?

Why would You choose pian?  Is fear appealing?

¹ It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked, you are not invulnerable. You see attack as a real threat. That is because you believe that you can really attack.

– Is aggression fun? –

And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you.

– What You do unto Others, You receive. –

It is this law that will ultimately save you. But you are misusing it now. You must therefore learn how it can be used for your own best interests rather than against them.

On this holy basis stands what has been called My Golden Rule.  It rests upon perfect simplicity, so a child can clearly understand it: “As You would be done to, do to Others.”

Would You not rather Love Your Brother and feel His Love returned to You, a perfect game of catch, with Your Love the perfect match.

Most of You look frantically for Someone to Love You too.  Yet from a broken shell You notice on the beach comes a stream of Love like to the ocean!  And yet You feel it not, defended against Your vulnerability.  Yet it is not aggression that You really fear, but Love instead.

You can’t avoid it!  Love is everywhere, just like Our Father!  If You would but lay down Your defenses, You would clearly feel It, Be-ing Your Be-ing.  How like the Father are You beautiful.

Why don’t You see It?

² Because your attack thoughts will be projected, you will fear attack. And if you fear attack, you must believe that you are not invulnerable. Attack thoughts therefore make you vulnerable in your own mind, which is where the attack thoughts are. Attack thoughts and invulnerability cannot be accepted together. They contradict each other.

³ The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself. If attack thoughts must entail the belief that you are vulnerable, their effect is to weaken you in your own eyes. Thus they have attacked your perception of yourself. And because you believe in them, you can no longer believe in yourself.

– Divine Self of God that You really are. –

A false image of yourself has come to take the place of what you are.

⁴ Practice with today’s idea will help you to understand that vulnerability or invulnerability is the result of your own thoughts. Nothing except your thoughts can attack you. Nothing except your thoughts can make you think you are vulnerable. And nothing except your thoughts can prove to you this is not so.

⁵ Six practice periods are required in applying today’s idea. A full two minutes should be attempted for each of them, although the time may be reduced to a minute if the discomfort is too great. Do not reduce it further.

⁶ The practice period should begin with repeating the idea for today, then closing your eyes and reviewing the unresolved situations whose outcomes are causing you concern. The concern may take the form of depression, worry, anger, a sense of imposition, fear, foreboding, or preoccupation. Any problem as yet unsettled which tends to recur in your thoughts during the day is a suitable subject. You will not be able to use very many for any one practice period, because a longer time than usual should be spent with each one. Today’s idea should be applied as follows:

⁷ First, name the situation:

⁸ I am concerned about ______.

⁹ Then go over every possible outcome which has occurred to you in that connection and which has caused you concern, referring to each one quite specifically, saying:

¹⁰ I am afraid ______ will happen.

¹¹ If you are doing the exercises properly, you should have some five or six distressing possibilities available for each situation you use and quite possibly more. It is much more helpful to cover a few situations thoroughly than to touch on a larger number.

¹² As the list of anticipated outcomes for each situation continues, you will probably find some of them, especially those which occur to you toward the end, less acceptable to you. Try, however, to treat them all alike to whatever extent you can.

¹³ After you have named each outcome of which you are afraid, tell yourself:

¹⁴ That thought is an attack upon myself.

¹⁵ Conclude each practice period by repeating today’s idea once more.

And realize that I am ever with You.  Feel My Love for You.

LESSON TWENTY-FIVE

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I do not know what anything is for.

In the dream You have a saying: “What’s done is done and cannot be undone.”  And that’s because You think the dream is real.  It’s not.

So what You thought was done is easily undone by Wakening.  And the above admission initiates the process.

This Lesson offers You the opportunity to choose once again, and to learn of Reality.

¹ Purpose is meaning. Today’s idea explains why nothing you see means anything. You do not know what it is for. Therefore it is meaningless to you. Everything is for your own best interests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means. It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. It is in recognizing this that what you see is given meaning.

² You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests because the ego is not you. 

– Although You surely think its voice is Yours, it isn’t.  You have been bound and gagged by the ego, imprisoned by Your own ‘creative willfulness’. –

This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for. As a result, you are bound to misuse it. When you believe this, you will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world instead of attempting to reinforce them.

And with My help and Your willingness, You can be successful.

³ Another way of describing the goals you now perceive as valuable is to say that they are all concerned with “personal” interests. Since you have no personal interests, your goals are really concerned with nothing. In cherishing them, therefore, you have no goals at all. And thus you do not know what anything is for.

⁴ Before you can make any sense out of the exercises for today, one more thought is necessary. At the most superficial levels, you do recognize purpose. Yet purpose cannot be understood at these levels. For example, you do understand that a telephone is for the purpose of talking to someone who is not physically in your immediate vicinity. What you do not understand is what you want to reach him for. And it is this that makes your contact with him meaningful or not.

⁵ It is crucial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have established for everything. The recognition that they are meaningless, rather than “good” or “bad,” is the only way to accomplish this. The idea for today is a step in this direction.

Actually, within a dream, only two goals are possible: one is to stay asleep, and the other is to Awaken.

⁶ Six practice periods, each of two minutes duration, are required. Each practice period should begin with a slow repetition of the idea for today followed by looking about you and letting your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye, near or far, “important” or “unimportant,” “human” or “unhuman.” With your eyes resting on each subject you so select, say, for example:

⁷ I do not know what this chair is for.
I do not know what this pencil is for.
I do not know what this hand is for.

⁸ Say this quite slowly, without shifting your eyes until you have completed the statement. Then move on to the next subject, and apply today’s idea as before.

You may begin to question if You really know Yourself, and then ask: ‘Am ‘I’  an illusion I recall?  Do I really know My Self at all?

You may find it surprisingly quite freeing, the acknowledgement that You really know nothing.  Uncluttered mind is seen to be unlimited possibility.

LESSON TWENTY-FOUR

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I do not perceive my own best interests.

How can that be?  I know just what I want!  I’m quite decided.

Who said a word about wants or desires?  The ego tells You that getting what You want is certainly in Your best interests.  That’s quite fallacious, for it’s not.

When is the last time that getting what You want or Your own way truly made You happy?

¹ In no situation which arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy.

– How could You when Your view is so limited by the ego? –

Therefore you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the results.

– Your view at ground level is quite limited compared to one from the mountaintop.  This is the reason for turning to One whose view is so much higher, and so much more comprehensive. –

What you do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that perception is wrong.

– For Your perception is quite limited by the world-bound You.  Heaven’s Vision – on the other hand gives You the complete view. –

It is inevitable, then, that you will not serve your own best interests. Yet they are your only goal in any situation which is correctly perceived. Otherwise, you will not recognize what they are.

What You think are Your own best interests are but the ego’s goals, not Yours.  These Lessons aim at separating the you You think You are – a.k.a. the ego – from the You that God and I – Your Elder Brother – see as Your Be-ing, Holy Son of God.

Would You be the pauper, when You could be the Prince, which is Your real Identity?

You have thought for so long that You are the ego.  I am saying that You’re not, that You and I are One, Son of God, neither ‘male’ nor ‘female’ but God’s living Presence.

Remember My ancient words to You, two thousand years ago: “As My Father moves, I do move also.”

Can You be anything but Sourced by God, loved and cherished by Our Father-Mother?  Would You not realize this for Yourself and for All Your Brothers?

Every moment – each Holy Instant – do I see You this way.

² If you realized that you do not perceive your own best interests, you could be taught what they are. But in the presence of your conviction that you do know what they are, you cannot learn. The idea for today is a step toward opening your mind so that learning can begin.

Believing that You are but an ego has brought You only pain for eons.  Would You be this when I come to You saying: Sister, choose again.  Brother, choose again.

³ The exercises for today require much more honesty than you are accustomed to using. A few subjects, honestly and carefully considered in each of the five practice periods which should be undertaken today, will be more helpful than a more cursory examination of a large number. Two minutes are suggested for each of the mind searching periods which the exercises involve.

⁴ The practice periods begin with repeating today’s idea, followed by searching the mind with closed eyes for unresolved situations about which you are currently concerned. The emphasis should be on uncovering the outcome you want. You will quickly realize that you have a number of goals in mind as part of the desired outcome and also that these goals are on different levels and often conflict

⁵ Name each situation that occurs to you, and enumerate carefully as many goals as possible that you would like to be met in its resolution. The form of each application should be roughly as follows:

⁶ In the situation involving _____, I would
like _____ to happen, and _____ to happen,

⁷ and so on. Try to cover as many different kinds of outcome as may honestly occur to you, even if some of them do not appear to you to be directly related to the situation or even to be inherent in it at all.

⁸ If these exercises are done properly, you will quickly recognize that you are making a large number of demands of the situation which have nothing to do with it. You will also recognize that many of your goals are contradictory, that you have no unified outcome in mind, and that you must experience disappointment in connection with some of your goals however the situation turns out.

⁹ After covering the list of as many hoped-for goals as possible for each unresolved situation that crosses your mind, say to yourself:

¹⁰ I do not perceive my own best interests in this situation,

¹¹ and go on to the next.

Now You may begin to understand the Love and Intelligence behind those words that have seemed ominous to so many: “Thy Will be done.”  God’s Will is always kind to Every One and most benign and is so very gentle.

LESSON TWENTY-THREE

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

What are attack thoughts, but those You have unjoined with God, Me or the Holy Spirit.  The thoughts You have on Your own, coming from separated sense We’ve called the ego.

Yet, how does One give up an addiction, gained over a thousand lifetimes ago, then a thousand more?  The same way that One is healed of drinking and drug addiction: by reaching out to a Higher Power.  You may call It different names, yet it is always for a Love You know must exist. And, indeed, It does.

This is why this Course was given to Two Who knew not how to heal their needs, just that healing was needed.  And their neediness encompasses all Dreamers. Those who realize it find this Course in Miracles, are drawn to it like a Mariner, finding Himself lost at sea, looking up higher, searches the heavens to get His bearings.  His despair does then turn to joy when He finds His Polaris.  The North Star returns to Him His bearings.  His fear healed through knowledge and gratitude.

Just so, the Knowing on which this Course is based – and Your gratitude for it – turn Your fears to Joy as well.

¹ The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will ever succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless. But this way cannot fail. Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work if your perception of the world is to be changed.

Attack thoughts do arise from fear, and fear from thoughts of attack.  These intruders flooded consciousness as You abandoned God when You made that choice for separation.

Now have I come to You with this Course and My ongoing counsel to choose again, this time choosing Christ.  Christ is the You that God has kept safe as the Holy Spirit.  These Lessons do lead You to re-Union.

² If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want. There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effects will change automatically.

Do You see the beauty of the logic?  When You do change Your mind about the world You see, the world will change accordingly.  Why is this?  Because You have made up the world with Your thinking.  Now can You see it clearly if You will to: change Your thinking and You change the world.  For it does not exist ‘out there’ but within Your consciousness.

Anyone can change their mind with a little humility to acknowledge having been mistaken.  No big deal; mistakes can be corrected.

Seven billion Dreamers do not indicate Reality by their quantity, just the length and depth of the dreaming.  Just change Yourself – Your own point of view – sit back, and see what happens.

³ The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is a symbol of vengeance.

– Attack is always based in vengeance.  How dare They do that to Me!  Off with their heads! –

Each of your perceptions of “external reality” is a pictorial representation of your own attack thoughts. One can well ask if this can be called seeing. Is not fantasy a better word for such a process and hallucination a more appropriate term for the result?

How much longer do You wish to deal in active, and such unpleasant fantasy?  Why not exchange it for Reality, or at least a better dream for starters?

⁴ You see the world which you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image-maker. You cannot be saved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone?

– Your change of mind has but disappeared it. –

Vision already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now. Loveliness can light your images and so transform them that you will love them even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone.

“I will never leave You nor forsake You.’  Resting as God’s promise, I said two thousand years ago: “I (did) pray the Father, and He (gave) you another Comforter, … He (does) abide with you forever;”₁ …, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy (Spirit), whom the Father … send(s) in my name, He … teach(es) you all things, and bring(s) all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”₂

²⁸ “… I give unto (You) eternal life; and (You) shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck (You) out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, which gave (You) Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck (You) out of my Father’s hand.”₃

I have kept My promise to You All and do continue to keep it until Every One Awakens, and then forever.

⁵ The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed. This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. The final one does not. Your images have already been replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so.

You are simply asked to change Your thinking.

⁶ Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five practice periods are required in applying today’s idea. As you look about you, repeat the idea slowly to yourself and then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attack thoughts as occur to you. As each one crosses your mind say:

⁷ I can escape from the world by giving up
attack thoughts about _____.

⁸ Hold each attack thought in mind as you say this, and then dismiss that thought and go on to the next.

⁹ In the practice periods, be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking and of being attacked. Their effects are exactly the same because they are exactly the same. You do not yet recognize this, and you are asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today’s practice periods. We are still at the stage of identifying the cause of the world you see. When you finally realize that thoughts of attack and of being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause go.

I stay right by You.  You can feel My Love cherishing and embracing You right now.

———————————————–

₁ John 14:16 KJV

² John 14:26 KJV

₃ John 10:28, 29

LESSON TWENTY-TWO

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

What I see is a form of vengeance.

To see what isn’t there is both an attack on God and on His Idea as well.

¹ Today’s idea accurately describes the way anyone who holds attack thoughts in his mind must see the world. Having projected his anger onto the world, he sees vengeance about to strike at him. His own attack is thus perceived as self defense. This becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees. Otherwise, thoughts of attack and counter-attack will preoccupy him and people his entire world. What peace of mind is possible to him then?

Would You not term this advanced insanity?  No mild neurosis this, but a form of extremely advanced mental retardation that applies to each One who Dreams, for surely the mind that thinks this way has become quite backward, having turned its back on both God and Love.

There’s nothing benign about Your dreaming.

² It is from this savage fantasy that you want to escape. Is it not joyous news to hear that it is not real? Is it not a happy discovery to find that you can escape? You made what you would destroy-everything that you hate and would attack and kill. All that you fear does not exist.

Joyous news indeed, except for hard-core Dreamers, and yet so hard to fathom when deep within the dream.  And Your help is right at hand, awaiting Your request.  Reach out and feel the Love embrace and lift You up.

You’ve “made Your bed in hell” and We are here (God and I, Your Elder Brother, and the Holy Spirit) to help You unmake it!

³ Look at the world about you at least five times today, for at least a minute each time. As your eyes move slowly from one object to another, from one body to another, say to yourself:

⁴ I see only the perishable.
I see nothing that will last.
What I see is not real.
What I see is a form of vengeance.

I have done violence with My mind to Every One of God’s Ideas, by My skewed view.

⁵ At the end of each practice period, ask yourself:

⁶ Is this the world I really want to see?

⁷ The answer is surely obvious

The good news is that You can always make a different choice, choose with the strength of Christ but to Awaken.  Sister, choose again.  Brother, choose again.

You’ve long forgotten – put it out of mind – just how much fun it is to be happy!

To Awaken is to regain Your Joy.

*~*~*~*~*

LESSON TWENTY-ONE

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I am determined to see things differently.

SCRIBE: Anything that’s less than all Good cannot be the view of God, which is My real Vision.  Why would I want to see another way? It has not been at all rewarding.

I realize now that it has been a direct attack on God, insisting on a view so ugly and attributing it all to Him to be Creator of a world so unlike to Heaven.  How insane.  And how obvious. How could I have ignored it for so long, this dichotomy?  I hear You say that time becomes irrelevant as We begin Awakening.

Our Father-Mother wants Us Home.  There are no recriminations, for We are seen – even now – only with the eyes of Love.  And this is encouragement so clear that this is how I must view all My Brothers.

These Lessons are a golden opportunity to do so.

Your Gift is beyond any gratitude, dear Elder Brother.  From Your Love so tireless, so patient, so kind, I see how to Love My Brothers.  With Your help, I will.

¹ The idea for today is obviously a continuation and extension of the preceding one. This time, however, specific mind searching periods are necessary in addition to applying the idea to particular situations as they arise. Five practice periods are urged, allowing a full minute for each.

² In the practice periods, begin by repeating the idea to yourself. Then close your eyes and search your mind carefully for situations past, present or anticipated, which arouse anger in you. The anger may take the form of any reaction ranging from mild irritation to rage. The degree of the emotion you experience does not matter. You will become increasingly aware that a slight twinge of annoyance is nothing but a veil drawn over intense fury.

Would You be that: a seething mass of self-righteous anger?  For thus is the ego.  Anger is its tool for self-protection. You can watch it bare its teeth at the slightest provocation.

Will You be that, for Christ comes to You so very gently saying: Dearest Sister, choose again.  Dearest Brother, choose again.  And this time choose with all the strength and Love of the Christ You are.

³ Try, therefore, not to let the “little” thoughts of anger escape you in the practice periods. Remember that you do not really recognize what arouses anger in you, and nothing that you believe in this connection means anything.

– Your beliefs are more than useless to You. –

You will probably be tempted to dwell more on some situations than on others on the fallacious grounds that they are more “obvious.” This is not so. It is merely an example of the belief that some forms of attack are more justified than others.

This is but self-righteousness in action: this belief that anger is justified, called ‘righteous anger’.  ‘Righteous’ indeed, for what it does is make You more ‘right’ than Your Brother, in Your mind.  Real Love eschews it: this ‘righteous anger’.

⁴ As you search your mind for all the forms in which attack thoughts present themselves, hold each one in mind and tell yourself:

⁵ I am determined to see _____ [name of person] differently.
I am determined to see _____ [specify the situation] differently.

Please be at least as determined as You have been to be ‘right’!  The fruits of Your determination will be far more delicious than self-righteousness could ever be.  Wait till You taste them.  You’ll want no other.

Love is sweet indeed.

⁶ Try to be as specific as possible. You may, for example, focus your anger on a particular attribute of a particular person, believing that the anger is limited to this aspect. If your perception of the person is suffering from this form of distortion, say:

⁷ I am determined to see _____ [specify the
attribute] in _____ [name of person] differently.

This exercise is but geared toward the letting go of anger, and all the tension that accompanies it.  Can You imagine life without it?  Think of the freedom.  No reason left to get upset, no more need for ruminating on the problem.

Therefore, the healing of what You term ‘Your’ anger – which is really self-righteousness – is necessary.  For anger blocks the Love You really are.

Where before You were determined to get justice, now do You look for the healing of Your mind instead. … And those fruits of Love.

*~*~*~*~*

LESSON TWENTY

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I am determined to see.

Indeed You have been determined to see things Your way, since the separation.  Now has the time arrived of the little willingness that leads to the decision to really see, after so many eons.  The Sons of God awake in Heaven send You Love and sing for joy at Your decision.  The Love for You is unlimited.  Constant it has been for You throughout all the separation.  Can You now feel It?  How long this moment has been awaited!

¹ We have been quite casual about our practice periods thus far. There has been virtually no attempt to direct the time for undertaking them, minimal effort has been required, and not even active cooperation and interest have been asked. This casual approach has been intentional and very carefully planned. We have not lost sight of the crucial importance of the reversal of your thinking. The salvation of the world depends on it. Yet you will not see if you regard yourself as being coerced and if you give in to resentment and opposition.

These things are modus operandi. of the ego to hide Your Sonship from You.  How effectively they do squelch all of Your joy and freedom.

² This is our first attempt to introduce structure. Do not misconstrue it as an effort to exert force or pressure. You want salvation. You want to be happy. You want peace. You do not have them now because your mind is totally undisciplined, and you cannot distinguish between joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, love and fear.

– Your responses have been like the infant deprived momentarily of its breast or of its bottle.  ‘Joy’ of earth is not the Joy of Heaven. –

You are now learning how to tell them apart. And great indeed will be your reward.

³ Your decision to see is all that vision requires. What you want is yours. Do not mistake the little effort that is asked of you for a sign that our goal is of little worth. Can the salvation of the world be a trivial purpose? And can the world be saved if you are not? God has one Son, and he is the resurrection and the life. His will is done because all power is given him in Heaven and on earth. In your determination to see is vision given you.

You had forgotten that You are His Son.  And now, again, You are remembering.

⁴ The exercises for today consist in reminding yourselves throughout the day that you want to see. Today’s idea also tacitly implies the recognition that you do not see now. Therefore, as you repeat the idea, you are stating that you are determined to change your present state for a better one, and one you really want.

And change is always possible, for You are the Son of God, the Belovèd One.  It is the Love of God You have been searching for, for eons, while It stands so quietly beside You, waiting only for Your recognition.

⁵ Repeat today’s idea slowly and positively at least twice an hour today, attempting to do so every half hour. Do not be distressed if you forget to do so, but make a real effort to remember. The extra repetitions should be applied to any situation, person, or event which upsets you. You can see them differently, and you will. What you desire, you will see. Such is the real law of cause and effect as it operates in the world.

For millennia You have been impotent, at the beck and call of the ego.  This Course is but returning Your power as the Son of God to its rightful Home.

Sister, choose again.  Brother, choose again.  Choice for happiness is waiting for You.

*~*~*~*~*

LESSON NINETEEN

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

We are not alone.  Never.  Not ever.  The Psalmist sung that if He rode the dawning sun to the furthest reaches of the sea, there would God be.  Even in ‘hell’ the Love of God is there.₁  And where God is, so are All Your Brothers.

How could You think or feel alone when We are All indissolubly connected?  What affects You has effect on All Our Brothers.

We spoke yesterday about choosing Life.  When but One of Us makes that choice, it is made for Every One.  Here is the message of the Resurrection.  I am not the only begotten One.  We are All equal.

The choice for Life I made is Yours as well, as soon as You allow it.  For I did open the door of consciousness, shut by the separation.

¹ The idea for today is obviously the reason why your seeing does not affect you alone. You will notice that at times the ideas related to thinking precede those related to perceiving, while at other times the order is reversed. The reason is that the order does not actually matter. Thinking and its results are really simultaneous, for cause and effect are never separate.

From My words, You begin to see that this is a really different view than the old one that You have held of Reality.  Do not fear to let it go – the old one – for it has only brought You misery.

Your thoughts and Your experience are but inextricable.

There is no ‘out there’ that does need fixing.  All Your work takes place as consciousness, And Yours specifically.  This is true for Every One and makes Us Universal.  For the Good each One does immediately blesses All of Us.  We‘re that connected.

² Today we are again emphasizing the fact that minds are joined. This is rarely a wholly welcome idea at first, since it seems to carry with it an enormous sense of responsibility and may even be regarded as an “invasion of privacy.” Yet it is a fact that there are no private thoughts. Despite your initial resistance to this idea, you will yet understand that it must be true if salvation is possible at all. And salvation must be possible because it is the Will of God.

What does the lack of private thoughts have to do with salvation?  If there were separate minds, how puny would salvation be if it were in any way partial; for the Love that is Our God does now source Every One and Every Thing.

³ The minute or so of mind searching which today’s exercises require are to be undertaken with eyes closed. The idea is to be repeated first, and then the mind should be carefully searched for the thoughts it contains at that time. As you consider each one, name it in terms of the central person or theme it contains and, holding it in your mind as you do so, say:

⁴ I am not alone in experiencing the effects of
this thought about ___.

That’s it for ‘make wrong’.  For when I criticize My Brother, I criticize Myself as well, since We are not separated.

⁵ The requirement of as much indiscriminateness as possible in selecting subjects for the practice period should be quite familiar to you by now and will no longer be repeated each day, although it will occasionally be included as a reminder. Do not forget, however, that random selection of subjects for all practice periods remains essential throughout. Lack of order in this connection will ultimately make the recognition of lack of order in miracles meaningful to you.

⁶ Apart from the “as needed” application of today’s idea, at least three practice periods are required, shortening the length of time involved if necessary. Do not attempt more than four.

Let Me today remember that what I see ‘out there’ surely lives ‘in here’ as well.

*~*~*~*~*

[Thank you Dear Brother]

*Sun~Rose is the scribe of the recently published book, “YOU ARE LOVED AND SAFE: PREP NOTES FOR EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE“, Jesus’ Guidance on the Miracle Principles

She is also author of, “RADIANT LIFE: RAW FOOD AND THE PRESENCE OF LOVE”

BOTH now available on amazon.com

LESSON EIGHTEEN

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

We have said that minds are joined, and that is true.  Yet it is important to understand that You do not have a mind believed to reside in the brain of a matter body.  You are Mind, Consciousness Itself.

Your relationship with Every One and Every Thing is both intimate and Universal.  For Every One and Every Thing is closer to You than Your breathing.  For breathing is a human thing, and Oneness is at once both human and Divine.  Right where the ‘human’ seems to be is just Your Divinity.

¹ The idea for today is another step in learning that the thoughts which give rise to what you see are never neutral or unimportant.

– The use to which You put Your mind is crucial.  For it does determine everything. –

It also emphasizes the idea that minds are joined, which will be given increasing stress later.

And as You read My words today and every day, kindly do remember that My goal for You is Your happiness and Your delight for You to find the beautiful Son of God right where You have thought that You were only ‘human’.

² Today’s idea does not refer to what you see as much as to how you see it. Therefore, the exercises for today will emphasize this aspect of your perception.

– What is the use to which You put Your minds?  And will this use be a detriment, or will it be a blessing for Your Brothers? –

The three or four practice periods which are recommended should be done as follows:

³ Selecting subjects for the application of the idea randomly, look at each one long enough to say:

⁴ I am not alone in experiencing the effects of how I see ___.

⁵ Conclude the practice period by repeating the more general statement:

⁶ I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

⁷ A minute or so or even less will be sufficient.

As You go through Your day, please think on this:

What is the effect of My thinking upon All Others throughout the Universe?  For in ancient times of dreaming did God set plainly the choice before Us: Life and blessing, death and cursing.  Therefore, choose Life.

So far, these words have mostly gone unheeded, and the separation still unhealed.  Today, who will listen to these words of Love: Choose Life.  So, right now, as You are watching Your thoughts: Choose Life.

———————————————————–

¹ Deuteronomy 30:19

King James Version: I call heaven and earth to record this day (in front of) You, that I have set before You life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both Thou and Thy seed may live:

*~*~*~*~*

[Thank you Dear Brother]

*Sun~Rose is the scribe of the recently published book, “YOU ARE LOVED AND SAFE: PREP NOTES FOR EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE“, Jesus’ Guidance on the Miracle Principles

She is also author of, “RADIANT LIFE: RAW FOOD AND THE PRESENCE OF LOVE”

BOTH now available on amazon.com