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Lesson 61. I am the light of the world.

 

Lesson 61. I am the light of the world.

(1) Who is the light of the world except God's Son? This, then, is merely a
statement of the truth about yourself. It is the opposite of a statement of
pride, of arrogance, or of self-deception. It does not describe the self-concept
you have made. It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you
have endowed your idols. It refers to you as you were created by God. It simply
states the truth.

(2) To the ego, today's idea is the epitome of self-glorification. But the ego
does not understand humility, mistaking it for self-debasement. Humility
consists of accepting your role in salvation and in taking no other. It is not
humility to insist you cannot be the light of the world if that is the function
God assigned to you. It is only arrogance that would assert this function cannot
be for you, and arrogance is always of the ego.

(3) True humility requires that you accept today's idea because it is God's
Voice which tells you it is true. This is a beginning step in accepting your
real function on earth. It is a giant stride toward taking your rightful place
in salvation. It is a positive assertion of your right to be saved, and an
acknowledgment of the power that is given you to save others.

(4)You will want to think about this idea as often as possible today. It is the
perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation. It brings all
the images you have made about yourself to the truth, and helps you depart in
peace, unburdened and certain of your purpose.

(5) As many practice periods as possible should be undertaken today, although
each one need not exceed a minute or two. They should begin with telling
yourself:

I am the light of the world.
That is my only function.
That is why I am here.<

Then think about these statements for a short while, preferably with your eyes
closed if the situation permits. Let a few related thoughts come to you, and
repeat the idea to yourself if your mind wanders away from the central thought.

(6) Be sure both to begin and end the day with a practice period. Thus you will
awaken with an acknowledgment of the truth about yourself, reinforce it
throughout the day, and turn to sleep as you reaffirm your function and your
only purpose here. These two practice periods may be longer than the rest, if
you find them helpful and want to extend them.

(7) Today's idea goes far beyond the ego's petty views of what you are and what
your purpose is. As a bringer of salvation, this is obviously necessary. This is
the first of a number of giant steps we will take in the next few weeks. Try
today to begin to build a firm foundation for these advances. You are the light
of the world. God has built His plan for the salvation of His Son on you.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The commentary on this lesson (below) is from Kenneth Wapnick's eight volume
series of books, called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles,"
which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"I am the light of the world."

*The lesson's title is taken from the gospels, specifically where Jesus tells
his disciples: "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). Here, as in many
other places in A Course in Miracles, we see how Jesus takes an idea from
traditional Christianity and gives it a totally different interpretation. The
gospel understanding was that the disciples' function was to bring that light to
the world -- literally, to the physical world.

It is easy for students of A Course in Miracles who are unaware of its
underlying teaching to mistake this gospel exhortation for what Jesus means in
this lesson. He is <not> saying we should bring the light into the world,
because <there is no world>. By saying we are the light of the world he refers
to the light of Christ shining in our minds. Because the mind of God's Son is
one (a subsidiary theme in these lessons, yet a continually recurring one), that
light is shared by the Sonship as a whole. We are not asked to be spiritually
special persons who bear the light because Jesus gave it to us, and then charged
us with the function of spreading it to the multitudes. Rather, he is reminding
us -- God's one Son who has the illusion of fragmentation -- we <all> are the
light of the world. This, then, corrects the ego's self-concept bequeathed to
each of us: we are the <darkness> of the world. In fact, Lesson 93 begins: "You
think you are the home of evil, darkness and sin" (W-pI.93,1.1) That is the
illusion we bring to the light-filled truth about ourselves.

Our arrogance and pride is expressed in holding the thought: "I am the light of
the world, but you are not. There is something special about me, and in my
beneficent holiness I will bring you that light, giving you something you do not
have." Such arrogance reflects the spiritual specialness that I have something
you lack. In <The Song of Prayer> Jesus discusses this dynamic --
"healing-to-separate" -- in the context of healers who believe <they> are the
healers, giving healing to one who is sick, and therefore separate from them.
The following passage applies as well to what we can call "light
bearing-to-separate."

"Someone knows better, has been better trained, or is perhaps more talented
and wise. Therefore, he can give healing to the one who stands beneath him in
his patronage. ... How can that be? True healing cannot come from inequality
assumed and then accepted as the truth, and used to help restore the wounded and
to calm the mind that suffers from the agony of doubt. ... You do not make
yourself the bearer of the special gift that brings the healing. You but
recognize your oneness with the one who calls for help. For in this oneness is
his separate sense dispelled, and it is this that made him sick. There is no
point in giving remedy apart from where the source of sickness is, for never
thus can it be truly healed." (S.3.III.2.4-5;3:3-4;4:5-8).

The darkness that needs healing, regardless of its form, resides in the mind
that believes in separation. The light that heals also resides in the mind, and
each of us carries both -- the darkness of guilt and the light of the Atonement.
Choosing the light is healing for ourselves <and> the world, for the light of
Christ shines in God's Son as one, there being only <one> light. To believe
anything else is the ego's specialness at work. Its deception lies not only in
separation, but also in what specialness covers: the belief I am really the
darkness of the world.

Therefore, in the workbook, as well as in the rest of A Course in Miracles, we
are taught that our function is to remind ourselves we are the light of the
world, having made the choice against the ego's darkness. Our acceptance of that
fact of the Atonement serves as a reminder for everyone else to make the same
choice we have. Jesus thus begins the lesson by contrasting the light of our
true Identity with the ego's darkened self of arrogance and delusion:*

(1) "Who is the light of the world except God's Son? This, then, is merely a
statement of the truth about yourself. It is the opposite of a statement of
pride, of arrogance, or of self-deception. It does not describe the self-concept
you have made. It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you
have endowed your idols. It refers to you as you were created by God. It simply
states the truth."

*Later in the workbook, the theme that we are as God created us becomes central,
as I mentioned earlier. However, here once again Jesus shows us the other side.
He wants us to understand what we believe about ourselves -- "the [sinful and
guilty] self-concept you have made" -- at the same time he wants us also to
remember that these self-concepts are a defense against our true Self: the light
of Christ.*

(2:1-2) "To the ego, today's idea is the epitome of self-glorification. But the
ego does not understand humility, mistaking it for self-debasement."

*To the ego, "I am the light of the world" means, again; I have something you
lack." Likewise, to the ego, humility means self-debasement, a meaning held by
many, many people. This traditional Christian version of humility commonly finds
expression in assertions such as: "I am a miserable sinner. But only because of
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ am I saved." Perhaps the most famous of all
prayers of the Orthodox Church is the "Jesus Prayer": "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of
God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Appearances to the contrary, this is really
the height of arrogance, because it says there can be a sinful self that is
independent of, and separate from the glorious Self that God created. An
important passage from the text reflects the ego's false humility:

"A major tenet in the ego's insane religion is that sin is not error but
truth, and it is innocence that would deceive. Purity is seen as arrogance, and
the acceptance of the self as sinful is perceived as holiness. And it is this
doctrine that replaces the reality of the Son of God as his Father created him,
and willed that he be forever. Is this humility? Or is it, rather, an attempt to
wrest creation away from truth, and keep it separate?" (T-19.II.4)**

(2:3-5) "Humility consists of accepting your role in salvation and in taking no
other. It is not humility to insist you cannot be the light of the world if that
is the function God assigned to you. It is only arrogance that would assert this
function cannot be for you, and arrogance is always of the ego."

*Another important theme appearing here is <function>. A Course in Miracles
teaches that our function is to accept the Atonement for ourselves, to accept
the fact that our seeming sins are forgiven. It is not our function to do
anything with anyone else, the reason being, ultimately, <there is no one else>.
We are but to ask Jesus' help in healing our minds, for thus we realize that the
mind of God's Son is one. Once healed, we become a symbol of healing and
right-minded choice -- light instead of darkness -- for everyone else.

Again, if we take words in A Course in Miracles at face value, without
understanding their content, we could wind up with ideas that are the exact
opposite of what Jesus is teaching, making the same mistakes Christianity and so
many religions and spiritualities have made throughout history. The statements
we have just considered are prime examples of this mistake, one of the ego's
most effective defenses against the truth of our reality as God's <one> Son.*

(3)"True humility requires that you accept today's idea because it is God's
Voice which tells you it is true. This is a beginning step in accepting your
real function on earth. It is a giant stride toward taking your rightful place
in salvation. It is a positive assertion of your right to be saved, and an
acknowledgment of the power that is given you to save others."

*In the text Jesus explains in several places that our function on earth is to
forgive or heal, and our function in Heaven is to create. For example:

"Do the Holy Spirit's work, for you share in His function. As your function
in Heaven is creation, so your function on earth is healing. God shares His
function with you in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit shares His with you on earth."
(T-12.VII.4:6-8).

This lesson refers to our function of accepting our own salvation, that the Holy
Spirit may extend it through us. It is also evident that Jesus is talking about
a process: "<a beginning step> in accepting your real function of earth ... <a
giant stride> toward taking your rightful place in salvation." This is not
something we do overnight, and he is not expecting his students to do Lesson 61
in the morning, be healed in the afternoon, and made whole by evening as they
enter the real world. We are <beginning> to change our minds about what we
believe we are. We shall return again and again to this important theme of
<process>.*

(4) "You will want to think about this idea as often as possible today. It is
the perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation. It brings
all the images you have made about yourself to the truth, and helps you depart
in peace, unburdened and certain of your purpose."

*This is an unmistakable reference to the theme of bringing the darkness to the
light, or the illusion to the truth. As we have discussed previously, Jesus is
not saying we should use these workbook thoughts as affirmations to cover or
shout down our misperceptions about ourselves. He is asking us rather to look at
misperceptions, realizing our terrible self-concepts and images. Looking at
these with Jesus constitutes bringing them to his truth, which we cannot do if
we do not know they are there.

Again, nothing in the workbook should ever be taken as analogous to affirmations
that ask us to drown out the ego thought system. This corrects the predominant
New Age emphasis on affirmations, which is an example of using truth as a cover
for illusion. As he does throughout the workbook, Jesus gives us the other side.
In addition to emphasizing our wrong-minded beliefs about ourselves, he also
emphasizes the truth about ourselves; not that we would cover the illusion with
the truth, but that we would be aware we have a choice. I have pointed out many
times the importance A Course in Miracles places on the power of our minds to
choose. However, we cannot make a meaningful choice if we do not know what we
are choosing <between>. That is why Jesus sets forth for us in no uncertain
terms that we have a wrong mind -- the ego's voice that lies -- and a right mind
-- the Holy Spirit's Voice that speaks the truth.*

(5) "As many practice periods as possible should be undertaken today, although
each one need not exceed a minute or two. They should begin with telling
yourself:

I am the light of the world.
That is my only function.
That is why I am here.<"

Then think about these statements for a short while, preferably with your eyes
closed if the situation permits. Let a few related thoughts come to you, and
repeat the idea to yourself if your mind wanders away from the central thought."

*Note Jesus again urging us to recall the thought for the day as often as
possible, reminding us of the truth of our Identity, <to which we bring> the
ego's shabby substitute of guilt and judgment. Note, too, how Jesus is expecting
us to mind wander, and gently encouraging us to overcome our fear and return to
the truth of his teaching.*

(6) "Be sure both to begin and end the day with a practice period. Thus you will
awaken with an acknowledgment of the truth about yourself, reinforce it
throughout the day, and turn to sleep as you reaffirm your function and your
only purpose here. These two practice periods may be longer than the rest, if
you find them helpful and want to extend them."

*Jesus' methodology should be recognizable by now. He wants us continually to
remember the truth about ourselves, so that we have an ongoing standard against
which we can evaluate the ego's delusions. He also allows us the freedom to do
more than he asks, if we are comfortable.*

(7:1-4) "Today's idea goes far beyond the ego's petty views of what you are and
what your purpose is. As a bringer of salvation, this is obviously necessary.
This is the first of a number of giant steps we will take in the next few weeks.
Try today to begin to build a firm foundation for these advances."

*Jesus lets us know that he knows about our choice for the ego -- "the ego's
petty views of what you are" -- and so there is no need to deny it. Moreover, it
is because of this choice against our Self that time is required to feel less
and less confidence in the ego's petty thought system of guilt and fear. Once
again, Jesus' words reflect the process of choosing against our resistance and
for the truth. These lessons thus become the building blocks on which we will
construct a totally new concept of ourselves -- one gentle step at a time.*

(7:4-6) "Try today to begin to build a firm foundation for these advances. You
are the light of the world. God has built His plan for the salvation of His Son
on you."


*Finally, Jesus encourages us to have faith in his process of forgiveness as he
reminds us of our purpose, and how important these early lessons are in
achieving our goal: remembering the light that is our Identity, brought about by
forgetting the darkness of the ego's shabby substitute of the separated and
guilt-ridden self.*


Love and Blessings,

Lyn Johnson
719-369-1822

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