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Lesson 152. The power of decision is my own. (1) No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision. No one suffers pain except his choice elects this state for him. No one can grieve nor fear nor think him sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants. And no one dies without his own consent. Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose. Here is your world, complete in all details. Here is its whole reality for you. And it is only here salvation is. (2) You may believe that this position is extreme, and too inclusive to be true. Yet can truth have exceptions? If you have the gift of everything, can loss be real? Can pain be part of peace, or grief of joy? Can fear and sickness enter in a mind where love and perfect holiness abide? Truth must be all-inclusive, if it be the truth at all. Accept no opposites and no exceptions, for to do so is to contradict the truth entirely. (3) Salvation is the recognition that the truth is true, and nothing else is true. This you have heard before, but may not yet accept both parts of it. Without the first, the second has no meaning. But without the second, is the first no longer true. Truth cannot have an opposite. This can not be too often said and thought about. For if what is not true is true as well as what is true, then part of truth is false. And truth has lost its meaning. Nothing but the truth is true, and what is false is false. (4) This is the simplest of distinctions, yet the most obscure. But not because it is a difficult distinction to perceive. It is concealed behind a vast array of choices that do not appear to be entirely your own. And thus the truth appears to have some aspects that belie consistency, but do not seem to be but contradictions introduced by you. (5) As God created you, you must remain unchangeable, with transitory states by definition false. And that includes all shifts in feeling, alterations in conditions of the body and the mind; in all awareness and in all response. This is the all-inclusiveness which sets the truth apart from falsehood, and the false kept separate from the truth, as what it is. (6) Is it not strange that you believe to think you made the world you see is arrogance? God made it not. Of this you can be sure. What can He know of the ephemeral, the sinful and the guilty, the afraid, the suffering and lonely, and the mind that lives within a body that must die? You but accuse Him of insanity, to think He made a world where such things seem to have reality. He is not mad. Yet only madness makes a world like this." (7) To think that God made chaos, contradicts His Will, invented opposites to truth, and suffers death to triumph over life; all this is arrogance. Humility would see at once these things are not of Him. And can you see what God created not? To think you can is merely to believe you can perceive what God willed not to be. And what could be more arrogant than this? (8) Let us today be truly humble, and accept what we have made as what it is. The power of decision is our own. Decide but to accept your rightful place as co-creator of the universe, and all you think you made will disappear. What rises to awareness then will be all that there ever was, eternally as it is now. And it will take the place of self-deceptions made but to usurp the altar to the Father and the Son. (9) Today we practice true humility, abandoning the false pretense by which the ego seeks to prove it arrogant. Only the ego can be arrogant. But truth is humble in acknowledging its mightiness, its changelessness and its eternal wholeness, all-encompassing, God's perfect gift to His beloved Son. We lay aside the arrogance which says that we are sinners, guilty and afraid, ashamed of what we are; and lift our hearts in true humility instead to Him Who has created us immaculate, like to Himself in power and in love. (10) The power of decision is our own. And we accept of Him that which we are, and humbly recognize the Son of God. To recognize God's Son implies as well that all self-concepts have been laid aside, and recogniz

Lesson 151. All things are echoes of the Voice for God. (1) No one can judge on partial evidence. That is not judgment. It is merely an opinion based on ignorance and doubt. Its seeming certainty is but a cloak for the uncertainty it would conceal. It needs irrational defense because it is irrational. And its defense seems strong, convincing, and without a doubt because of all the doubting underneath. (2) You do not seem to doubt the world you see. You do not really question what is shown you through the body's eyes. Nor do you ask why you believe it, even though you learned a long while since your senses do deceive. That you believe them to the last detail which they report is even stranger, when you pause to recollect how frequently they have been faulty witnesses indeed! Why would you trust them so implicitly? Why but because of underlying doubt, which you would hide with show of certainty? (3) How can you judge? Your judgment rests upon the witness that your senses offer you. Yet witness never falser was than this. But how else do you judge the world you see? You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report. You think your fingers touch reality, and close upon the truth. This is awareness that you understand, and think more real than what is witnessed to by the eternal Voice for God Himself. (4) Can this be judgment? You have often been urged to refrain from judging, not because it is a right to be withheld from you. You cannot judge. You merely can believe the ego's judgments, all of which are false. It guides your senses carefully, to prove how weak you are; how helpless and afraid, how apprehensive of just punishment, how black with sin, how wretched in your guilt. (5) This thing it speaks of, and would yet defend, it tells you is yourself. And you believe that this is so with stubborn certainty. Yet underneath remains the hidden doubt that what it shows you as reality with such conviction it does not believe. It is itself alone that it condemns. It is within itself it sees the guilt. It is its own despair it sees in you. (6) Hear not its voice. The witnesses it sends to prove to you its evil is your own are false, and speak with certainty of what they do not know. Your faith in them is blind because you would not share the doubts their lord can not completely vanquish. You believe to doubt his vassals is to doubt yourself. (7) Yet you must learn to doubt their evidence will clear the way to recognize yourself, and let the Voice for God alone be Judge of what is worthy of your own belief. He will not tell you that your brother should be judged by what your eyes behold in him, nor what his body's mouth says to your ears, nor what your fingers' touch reports of him. He passes by such idle witnesses, which merely bear false witness to God's Son. He recognizes only what God loves, and in the holy light of what He sees do all the ego's dreams of what you are vanish before the splendor He beholds. (8) Let Him be Judge of what you are, for He has certainty in which there is no doubt, because it rests on Certainty so great that doubt is meaningless before Its face. Christ cannot doubt Himself. The Voice for God can only honor Him, rejoicing in His perfect, everlasting sinlessness. Whom He has judged can only laugh at guilt, unwilling now to play with toys of sin; unheeding of the body's witnesses before the rapture of Christ's holy face. (9) And thus He judges you. Accept His Word for what you are, for He bears witness to your beautiful creation, and the Mind Whose Thought created your reality. What can the body mean to Him Who knows the glory of the Father and the Son? What whispers of the ego can He hear? What could convince Him that your sins are real? Let Him be Judge as well of everything that seems to happen to you in this world. His lessons will enable you to bridge the gap between illusions and the truth. (10) He will remove all faith that you have placed in pain, disaster, suffering and loss. He gives you vision which can look beyond these grim appearances, and can behold the gentle face of Christ in al

Lesson 150."My mind holds only what I think with God." (139) "I will accept Atonement for myself." (140) "Only salvation can be said to cure." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A very brief excerpt from both Lessons 139 and 140, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole of the lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (139) "I will accept Atonement for myself." (12:4) "I will accept Atonement for myself, For I remain as God created me." *It is helpful to keep in mind that if you are serious about learning this course, you must realize that the creation of God is one. Therefore, any thoughts that separate you from anyone else constitute a consciously chosen attempt to deny your Identity. If you think your happiness or pain come from outside, you are denying the principle of the Atonement, which means you do not want to remember it. This is not a sin, but a correctable mistake once you know you made it. Therefore, you need to become increasingly vigilant for when your special thoughts and actions attack the Oneness of God's Son. The idea is not that you feel guilty over your specialness, but that you become aware of it. Jesus' purpose is to help us do just that, for it is in looking at the ego that we learn to accept the Atonement for ourselves, remembering the glorious thought that throughout the ego's insanity we have remained as God created us.* (140) "Only salvation can be said to cure." (12:1-3)"With nothing in our hands to which we cling, with lifted hearts and listening minds we pray: Only salvation can be said to cure. Speak to us, Father, that we may be healed." *My task is simply to empty my mind, heart, and hands of ego thoughts that interfere with hearing the Holy Spirit. I no longer try to define the problem as something external, for this establishes the solution as something external as well -- a form of magic. Turning away from the ego's strategy of concealment and camouflage, I bring the problem to the mind's mistaken choice, as I hear my Father's gentle Voice proclaiming I am healed.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 149. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (137) "When I am healed I am not healed alone." (138) "Heaven is the decision I must make." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A very brief excerpt from both Lessons 137 and 138, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole of the lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (137) "When I am healed I am not healed alone." (14:3-4) "When I am healed I am not healed alone. And I would share my healing with the world, that sickness may be banished from the mind of God's one Son, Who is my only Self." *It should be clear here, as I mentioned at the beginning of this lesson, that sickness is separation. It is not a physical symptom, though we experience it that way. The discomfort we may feel in our bodies is a direct expression of the discomfort we feel in our minds for choosing to be right rather than happy, to be separate from the love of Jesus rather than to be joined with him. Again, we want to ask ourselves throughout the day: Is it really worth it to remain separate from my brother, my Self, and my God?* (15:1-3) "Let healing be through you this very day. And as you rest in quiet, be prepared to give as you receive, to hold but what you give, and to receive the Word of God to take the place of all the foolish thoughts that ever were imagined. Now we come together to make well all that was sick, and offer blessing where there was attack." *None of this is possible unless you first become aware of the foolish thoughts of sickness and attack. We thus return to the principle theme -- the theme of the next lesson as well -- that healing, correction and forgiveness have no meaning if you do not have a problem to which you can apply them. You must therefore be aware of your attraction to being angry, sick, and judgmental, and feeling hurt, victimized, and depressed; and ask yourself, again: Is it really worth it to me? At that point, then, you are ready to drop the ego's hand and allow Jesus to guide you gently to the mind that is the source of sickness as well as healing.* (138) "Heaven is the decision I must make." (12:4-6) "Heaven is the decision I must make. I make it now, and will not change my mind, because it is the only thing I want." *If you are sincere about wanting Heaven, you must be equally sincere about choosing the means that will take you there -- the forgiveness lessons our daily lives afford us when we choose the Holy Spirit. If you are serious about A Course in Miracles and this lesson's theme of choosing Heaven, you must be serious about taking the road that will lead you there. Thus you will strive to remind yourself of your purpose upon awakening, throughout the day, and again before you close your eyes at night: seeing your life as a classroom with a Teacher Who will instruct you as to its proper meaning, reflecting back to you a decision the mind made for the ego, a decision you now joyfully correct. Your decision for Heaven becomes the means for giving you the only joy you want -- awakening from the ego's dream and returning home. Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 148. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (135) "If I defend myself I am attacked." (136) "Sickness is a defense against the truth." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A very brief excerpt from both Lessons 135 and 136, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (135) "If I defend myself I am attacked." (26:6-8) "This is my Eastertime. And I would keep it holy. I will not defend myself, because the Son of God needs no defense against the truth of his reality." *Choosing Jesus as our teacher allows us to grow in his love, that we grow to remember our reality. What enables us to climb the ladder home is realizing we are one. The seeming differences that confront us are superficial, for we are unified in sharing the same insane thought system and need to defend against it. Some people, whom we like, defend in nice ways. Others, whom we judge against, defend in not-so-nice ways. In the end, however, we all do the same thing. Remember, special love and special hate look different, but they share the one purpose of preserving our guilt at someone else's expense. Perceiving the unity of our ego's, therefore, allows us to remember our unity as God's one Son, as we defenselessly resurrect our holy minds from the hell of the ego's world of sin.* (136) "Sickness is a defense against the truth." (15:6-7) "Sickness is a defense against the truth. I will accept the truth of what I am, and let my mind be wholly healed today." *We are not the ones who heal our minds. We choose to let our minds be healed by the presence of the Atonement principle, which we now happily choose for ourselves.* (16:1) "Healing will flash across your open mind, as peace and truth arise to take the place of war and vain imaginings." *In order for healing to occur, I first must realize I have chosen "war and vain imaginings" -- my daily life as a battleground -- so as not to remember the truth beyond the battle. Only then can I know I am not a victim of the world or its unseen forces, but of my mistaken decision to keep Christ's love separate from my innate attraction to it. This is undone in the instant I choose to remember I am one with His Will, which is my own as well: "This is the re-establishment of your will. Look upon it, open-eyed, and you will nevermore believe that you are at the mercy of things beyond you, forces you cannot control, and thoughts that come to you against your will. It is your will to look on this. No mad desire, no trivial impulse to forget again, no stab of fear nor the cold sweat of seeming death can stand against your will. For what attracts you from beyond the veil is also deep within you, unseparated from it and completely one." (T-19.IV-D.7:3-7).* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 147. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (133) "I will not value what is valueless." (134) "Let me perceive forgiveness as it is." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A brief excerpt from both Lessons 133 and 134, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (133) "I will not value what is valueless." (14) "And then receive what waits for everyone who reaches, unencumbered, to the gate of Heaven, which swings open as he comes. Should you begin to let yourself collect some needless burdens, or believe you see some difficult decisions facing you, be quick to answer with this simple thought: I will not value what is valueless, for what is valuable belongs to me." *You may recall this early statement from the text: "You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment." (T.3.VI.3.1). Judgments are the needless burdens to which Jesus refers. When you start making judgments of yourself and others, stop as quickly as possible and ask if you really want the consequences of such valueless thoughts. Difficult decisions, too, result from having valued the valueless, yet no decision can be difficult here because there is no "here." The only true decision is the mind's choice between the ego and Jesus. What can be simpler? Choosing him releases the ego's investment in being right, and when you return your attention to a decision on the level of form, you will automatically know the most loving thing to do. We certainly need to make decisions while in the body, but our loving teacher renders them effortless, for they gently follow the mind's decision. Therefore, when such decisions are problematic, and anxiety, depression, and guilt surround them, you know you have chosen the wrong teacher. Jesus' request is simple at this point: Drop the ego's hand and take his instead. Difficulty follows only when you resist his simple request. This is your signal what you have once again seen the world as worthwhile or worthless, helpful or harmful -- a valueless perception indeed! Recognizing the need to return to the mind, you remember that what alone is valuable in this world is learning to choose Jesus as your teacher and guide -- to forgive instead of condemn -- a choice you now happily make.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 146. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (131) "No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth." (132) "I loose the world from all I thought it was." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A brief excerpt from both Lessons 131 and 132, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (131) "No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth." (15:2-7) "Today is set by Heaven itself to be a time of grace for you and for the world. If you forget this happy fact, remind yourself with this: Today I seek and find all that I want. My single purpose offers it to me. No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth." *To state the oft-repeated guidance, what gives meaning to our practice is learning how much we do not mean the words of the lesson, accepting that part of us does not want the terrifying truth that will free us from our specialness. Therefore, before we say and mean these words, we have first to be aware of the ego's truth, needing Jesus to help us forgive these special thoughts that prefer the ego to him. In other words, before truth can dawn on our minds, we must forgive ourselves for pushing it away. Thus we come to learn the happy fact that our pushing Jesus away had no effect: He went nowhere and, fortunately, neither did we. Without an effect, the sin of separation is not a cause, and nothing exists that is not causative. Therefore, sin does not exist and there is nothing to forgive. This is the truth and, by choosing to forgive, we choose to seek what we truly wish to find. Our single purpose ensures that we shall, for no one can fail who seeks the truth.* (132) "I loose the world from all I thought it was." (17) "Throughout the day, increase the freedom sent through your ideas to all the world, and say whenever you are tempted to deny the power of your simple change of mind: I loose the world from all I thought it was, and choose my own reality instead." *Jesus closes the lesson by urging you to apply the idea for the day when tempted to deny the power of your mind. Without such application, day in and day out, these principles will have no meaning. You are thus tempted, when you see yourself as victim of something or someone outside you, believing your change of mood is due to anything other than the power of your mind. You then seek for something not of the mind to fix the situation and make you feel better. Not only do you deny your mind's power to make you upset or disquieted, but you also deny its power to make you peaceful. The mind's power is returned to you when you can simply say you were wrong and Jesus is right, that he is the teacher you want. You thus not only loose the world from all you thought it was, but loose the ego from all you thought it was as well.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 145. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (129) "Beyond this world there is a world I want." (130) "It is impossible to see two worlds." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A brief excerpt from both Lessons 127 and 128, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (129) "Beyond this world there is a world I want." *Beyond this world is the real world, the right mind-minded place of truth. Jesus appeals here to our mind's power to choose between the two: the ego's shadowy world of guilt and hate; or the Holy Spirit's light-filled world of Atonement that reflects His Love.* (130) "It is impossible to see two worlds." (5) "It is impossible to see two worlds which have no overlap of any kind. Seek for the one; the other disappears. But one remains. They are the range of choice beyond which your decision cannot go. The real and the unreal are all there are to choose between, and nothing more than these." *This is the law of the split mind: the decision maker must decide between the ego and the Holy Spirit. It cannot choose both of them, nor choose neither of them. One or the other must always be chosen. " ... you cannot make decisions by yourself. The only question really is with what you choose to make them. That is really all. The first rule, then, is not coercion, but a simple statement of a simple fact. You will not make decisions by yourself whatever you decide. For they are made with idols or with God. And you ask help of anti-Christ or Christ, and which you choose will join with you and tell you what to do." (T-30.I.14:3-9). This lesson's paragraph reflects this same idea. We choose between truth and illusion, the real and the unreal. Once we see the conflict between these two worlds, the solution is easy: "The way out of conflict between two opposing thought systems is clearly to choose one and relinquish the other. If you identify with your thought system, and you cannot escape this, and if you accept two thought systems which are in complete disagreement, peace of mind is impossible. If you teach both, which you will surely do as long as you accept both, you are teaching conflict and learning it ... There can be no conflict between sanity and insanity. Only one is true, and therefore only one is real." (T-6.V-B.51-3;6:1-2).* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 144. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (127) "There is no love but God's." (128) "The world I see holds nothing that I want." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A brief excerpt from both Lessons 125 and 126, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (127) "There is no love but God's." (1:3-7) "Love is one. It has no separate parts and no degrees; no kinds nor levels, no divergencies and no distinctions. It is like itself, unchanged throughout. It never alters with a person or a circumstance. It is the Heart of God, and also of His Son." *Love in the dream is expressed differently for, as we have just seen, it has many different forms. Yet if our love here truly reflects Heaven's, it would be unchanging, unaffected by things the beloved does or does not do. However, when you love sometimes and not others, regardless of how holy your love appears to be, it must come from your ego and not your right mind. The reflection of true love reflects the Oneness and changelessness of God. These statements are not meant to make us feel guilty, however, when we look on our love relationships to realize how variable and changeable they are. We cannot change mistakes unless we first realize we have made them. Therefore it is helpful to see how unloving we are throughout the day: we love people when they are kind to us; if not, our love changes. We thus need to see our changeable feelings, so we could ask Jesus to help us realize we are reflecting our belief in sin, the origin of all change. Thus we see in another what we choose not to recognize in ourselves: the sinful separation from God and His Heart of Love. The sin of which we accuse ourselves is having loved God once, but then deciding His Love was not enough; we wanted our specialness and individuality instead. We thus accused ourselves of a changing love, and in characteristic ego fashion, projected the sin, accusing others of being unfaithful and inconstant in their love. Indeed, we want people to be unfaithful and wavering, because that allows us to put on the ego's face of innocence.* (128) "The world I see holds nothing that I want." (1:1-2) "The world you see holds nothing that you need to offer you; nothing that you can use in any way, nor anything at all that serves to give you joy. Believe this thought, and you are saved from years of misery, from countless disappointments, and from hopes that turn to bitter ashes of despair." *Still another reference to special relationships: our need to believe there are things, substances, and people in the world that satisfy us, give us pleasure, make us feel good about ourselves, and supply the lack we believe is our reality. Rather than turn to Holy Spirit for what is lacking -- the memory of Who we are as Christ -- we deny His Presence, project the guilt that follows from this denial, and seek outside for relief from the pain that inevitably results from pushing love away. This is the basis for feeling the world holds what we want, a value predicated on the belief that we are bodies, with needs that have to be met; otherwise we feel lonely and deprived. Thus, our perceptions of the world is that it exists to meet our expectations and needs.* (1:3) "No one but must accept this thought as true, if he would leave the world behind and soar beyond its petty scope and little ways." *Throughout A Course in Miracles, and here again, Jesus reminds us that the world's gifts are nothing compared to His.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 143. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (125) "In quiet I receive God's Word today." (126) "All that I give is given to myself." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A brief excerpt from both Lessons 125 and 126, with the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined, just go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (125) "In quiet I receive God's Word today." (3:1) "In stillness we will hear God's Voice today without intrusion of our petty thoughts, without our personal desires, and without all judgment of His holy Word." *We experience the Holy Spirit and remember His Love by letting go of all things that interfere with it. Here Jesus refers to these blocks as "petty thoughts," "personal desires" and "all judgment." This means becoming aware of them, for otherwise we cannot choose against them. We learn of these ego defenses as we see their manifestations: our special relationships with each other expressing the mind's special relationship with the ego. As we become increasingly aware of the guilt and hatred expressed in our bodies -- special hate and special love -- we learn that what we are experiencing outside is the shadow of what we have first made real in our minds. This is the first clue that there is a mind, which allows us to be aware it is our thoughts that have to change, not anything external.* (3:2) "We will not judge ourselves today, for what we are can not be judged." *Our Identity as Christ has only to be accepted, not judged. The ego's initial judgment was that our individuality was a horrific, sinful thing, reinforced by guilt. Before we knew it we found ourselves in a world of judgment, each one justified by a plethora of misperceptions. All the while, the vision of or collective holiness as God's Son remained concealed behind our judgments of sin and guilt, fear and attack.* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (126) "All that I give is given to myself." *In this beautiful lesson Jesus talks about being still, reminiscent of the line: "The memory of God comes to the quiet mind." (T.23.I.1.1) If we are truly serious about our desire to remember God and return home, our minds must be quiet. The problem is we have filled them with the static of the ego's raucous shrieks -- its thought system of separation and individuality; sin, guilt, and fear; specialness and attack -- which makes it impossible to hear the Holy Spirit remind us of our Identity. If we are to be quiet and receive God's Word -- the Atonement principle -- we need to look at our ego's interferences without judgment, thus letting them go.* (1:1-4) "Let this day be a day of stillness and of quiet listening. Your Father wills you hear His Word today. He calls to you from deep within your mind where He abides. Hear Him today." *Deep within is the right mind, which we have sought to hide, and hide from. If we want to reach the quiet place wherein dwells the Voice for our Father, we have to return and unveil what we kept hidden. In the text we find this beautifully evocative passage of the forgotten song, whose wondrous melody is heard again, to the extent we can be quiet and listen: "Listen, -perhaps you catch a hint of an ancient state not quite forgotten; dim, perhaps, and yet not altogether unfamiliar, like a song whose name is long forgotten; and the circumstances in which you heard completely unremembered. Not the whole song has stayed with you, but just a little wisp of melody, attached not to a person or a place or anything particular. But you remember, from just this little part, how lovely was the song, how wonderful the setting where you heard it, and how you loved those who were there and listened with you." "The notes are nothing. Yet you have kept them with you, not for themselves, but as a soft reminder of what would make you weep if you remembered how dear it was to you. You could remember, yet you are afraid, believing you would lose the world you learned since then. And yet you know that nothing in the world you learned is half so dear

Lesson 142. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (123) "I thank my Father for His gifts to me." (124) "Let me remember I am one with God." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As there are no commentaries for the next ten lessons, I thought it might be helpful to just give a brief excerpt from both Lessons 123 and 124, and the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined you can go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (123) "I thank my Father for His gifts to me." (4) "Today in gratitude we lift our hearts above despair, and raise our thankful eyes, no longer looking downward to the dust. We sing the song of thankfulness today, in honor of the Self that God has willed to be our true Identity in Him. Today we smile on everyone we see, and walk with lightened footsteps as we go to do what is appointed us to do." *"What is appointed us to do" is forgive, which means I first become aware of how much I do not want to let go of my judgments and specialness, how much I do not want to smile on everyone I see. Indeed, I want only to smile at those from whom I want something; a desire that is selective, specific, and special. My first step in learning to forgive, therefore, is being aware of how much I do not want to, how much I do not want to change my perceptions. It is only when I become aware of my withholding a smile or a gentle word from you, that I can see I am withholding it from myself. Thus, I am not only <not> interested in being with you, but also not being with Jesus, and I certainly am not interested in returning to God. We need to see the causal connection between the <effect>, how we are towards others -- separate, insensitive, and special -- and the <cause>, not wanting to return home and remember God's Son. We look at that wish without judgment, thereby forgiving ourselves -- our function on earth. How could one not feel gratitude for such a function, for only through forgiveness can our hearts be lifted above despair to share the vision of the Son of God: the Self that God created one with Him.* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (124) "Let me remember I am one with God." (12) "Let me remember I am one with God, at one with all my brothers and my Self, in everlasting holiness and peace." *... try to be aware of how you do not want to speak these words. To say it again -- without pressuring yourself, focus on what you do not want to do or let go of. Becoming aware of these ego thoughts will allow you to realize that another part of your mind does in fact want to make these words your own. This will make the day meaningful, for you will have learned how much your commitment is to yourself and to the Sonship.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 Gather YouTube Channel Our Facebook Group ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 141. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (121) "Forgiveness is the key to happiness." (122) "Forgiveness offers everything I want." ** As there are no commentaries for the next ten lessons, I thought it might be helpful to just give a brief excerpt from both Lessons 123 and 124, and the commentary by Kenneth Wapnick, that we had formerly looked at. And if you feel so inclined you can go back over the whole lesson and commentary. ~ M. Street. The commentary on this lesson is an excerpt 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: Foundation for A Course in Miracles ? ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 121. "Forgiveness is the key to happiness." *In this very important lesson we find the contrast between forgiveness and the unforgiveness the ego would have us practice. The symbol of the <key> is important in considering what the ego does with our minds. When the decision maker was convinced by the ego to choose individuality over oneness, persuaded in the ontological instant to choose the ego's interpretation of the tiny, mad idea rather that the Holy Spirit's, and thus believe in its lie of individuality, it was as if the Holy Spirit became locked away in the right mind in which He dwells. The guilt in the wrong mind the replaced the Holy Spirit's right-minded love and Atonement in our awareness. At that point the ego had us view guilt as so intolerable that we had to leave the mind entirely and make up a world, encasing ourselves in a body. Consequently, not only did the right mind become closed off from awareness, but the wrong mind as well. The entire split mind, in a sense, became a locked box or vault, with key cleverly concealed within a body. Forgiveness, then, is the key that opens our minds. It is the name A Course in Miracles gives to the process of realizing that what upsets us is not what is going on within our own or another's body. Our guilt upsets me. This realization unlocks the first part of our minds. Going to the wrong mind and looking with Jesus at its guilt, we realize it, too, was made up. Our recognition causes it to disappear, which unlocks the right mind, where the Atonement principle has waited for us. Forgiveness thus opens up the mind the ego had closed. It told us happiness is found in the world by meeting our body's needs. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, teaches that real happiness comes when we unlock the presence of love that had been buried -- seemingly forever -- in our minds. This wonderful lesson takes us still further along our journey through anger and guilt, to the guiltlessness that is our home.* Lesson 122. Forgiveness offers everything I want. *This lesson and the next few are centered on positive themes: forgiveness here, and then gratitude, oneness, forgiveness again, and love. In A Course in Miracles, achieving what is positive is accomplished through undoing what is negative, with perhaps the clearest example being Lesson 126, where Jesus contrasts forgiveness with its opposite, <forgiveness-to-destroy>, even though the term itself is not used. As we go through the next five lessons, therefore, we will be looking at what is positive in terms of what the lesson is undoing. In this lesson, "Forgiveness offers everything I want," Jesus speaks to us about withdrawing our investments in everything we think we want and that will bring us happiness and peace, exchanging the false goals of specialness for the true one of forgiveness.* (1) "What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?" *Everyone would say "yes" to these questions, at least

Review IV - Introduction (1) Now we review again, this time aware we are preparing for the second part of learning how the truth can be applied. Today we will begin to concentrate on readiness for what will follow next. Such is our aim for this review, and for the lessons following. Thus, we review the recent lessons and their central thoughts in such a way as will facilitate the readiness that we would now achieve. (2) There is a central theme that unifies each step in the review we undertake, which can be simply stated in these words: My mind holds only what I think with God. That is a fact, and represents the truth of What you are and What your Father is. It is this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as co-creator with Himself. It is this thought that fully guarantees salvation to the Son. For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness. Yet it is forever true. (3) Let us begin our preparation with some understanding of the many forms in which the lack of true forgiveness may be carefully concealed. Because they are illusions, they are not perceived to be but what they are; defenses that protect your unforgiving thoughts from being seen and recognized. Their purpose is to show you something else, and hold correction off through self-deceptions made to take its place. (4) And yet, your mind holds only what you think with God. Your self-deceptions cannot take the place of truth. No more than can a child who throws a stick into the ocean change the coming and the going of the tides, the warming of the water by the sun, the silver of the moon on it by night. So do we start each practice period in this review with readying our minds to understand the lessons that we read, and see the meaning that they offer us. (5) Begin each day with time devoted to the preparation of your mind to learn what each idea you will review that day can offer you in freedom and in peace. Open your mind, and clear it of all thoughts that would deceive, and let this thought alone engage it fully, and remove the rest: My mind holds only what I think with God. Five minutes with this thought will be enough to set the day along the lines which God appointed, and to place His Mind in charge of all the thoughts you will receive that day. (6) They will not come from you alone, for they will all be shared with Him. And so each one will bring the message of His Love to you, returning messages of yours to Him. So will communion with the Lord of Hosts be yours, as He Himself has willed it be. And as His Own completion joins with Him, so will He join with you who are complete as you unite with Him, and He with you. (7) After your preparation, merely read each of the two ideas assigned to you to be reviewed that day. Then close your eyes, and say them slowly to yourself. There is no hurry now, for you are using time for its intended purpose. Let each word shine with the meaning God has given it, as it was given to you through His Voice. Let each idea which you review that day give you the gift that He has laid in it for you to have of Him. And we will use no format for our practicing but this: (8) Each hour of the day, bring to your mind the thought with which the day began, and spend a quiet moment with it. Then repeat the two ideas you practice for the day unhurriedly, with time enough to see the gifts that they contain for you, and let them be received where they were meant to be. (9) We add no other thoughts, but let these be the messages they are. We need no more than this to give us happiness and rest, and endless quiet, perfect certainty, and all our Father wills that we receive as the inheritance we have of Him. Each day of practicing, as we review, we close as we began, repeating first the thought that made the day a special time of blessing and of happiness for us; and through our faithfulness restored the world from darkness to the light, from grief to joy, from pain to peace, from sin to holiness. (10) God offers thanks to you who p

Lesson 140. Only salvation can be said to cure. (1) "Cure" is a word that cannot be applied to any remedy the world accepts as beneficial. What the world perceives as therapeutic is but what will make the body "better." When it tries to heal the mind, it sees no separation from the body, where it thinks the mind exists. Its forms of healing thus must substitute illusion for illusion. One belief in sickness takes another form, and so the patient now perceives himself as well. (2) He is not healed. He merely had a dream that he was sick, and in the dream he found a magic formula to make him well. Yet he has not awakened from the dream, and so his mind remains exactly as it was before. He has not seen the light that would awaken him and end the dream. What difference does the content of a dream make in reality? One either sleeps or wakens. There is nothing in between. (3) The happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings are different from the dreaming of the world, where one can merely dream he is awake. The dreams forgiveness lets the mind perceive do not induce another form of sleep, so that the dreamer dreams another dream. His happy dreams are heralds of the dawn of truth upon the mind. They lead from sleep to gentle waking, so that dreams are gone. And thus they cure for all eternity. (4) Atonement heals with certainty, and cures all sickness. For the mind which understands that sickness can be nothing but a dream is not deceived by forms the dream may take. Sickness where guilt is absent cannot come, for it is but another form of guilt. Atonement does not heal the sick, for that is not a cure. It takes away the guilt that makes the sickness possible. And that is cure indeed. For sickness now is gone, with nothing left to which it can return. (5) Peace be to you who have been cured in God, and not in idle dreams. For cure must come from holiness, and holiness can not be found where sin is cherished. God abides in holy temples. He is barred where sin has entered. Yet there is no place where He is not. And therefore sin can have no home in which to hide from His beneficence. There is no place where holiness is not, and nowhere sin and sickness can abide. (6) This is the thought that cures. It does not make distinctions among unrealities. Nor does it seek to heal what is not sick, unmindful where the need for healing is. This is no magic. It is merely an appeal to truth, which cannot fail to heal and heal forever. It is not a thought that judges an illusion by its size, its seeming gravity, or anything that is related to the form it takes. It merely focuses on what it is, and knows that no illusion can be real. (7) Let us not try today to seek to cure what cannot suffer sickness. Healing must be sought but where it is, and then applied to what is sick, so that it can be cured. There is no remedy the world provides that can effect a change in anything. The mind that brings illusions to the truth is really changed. There is no change but this. For how can one illusion differ from another but in attributes that have no substance, no reality, no core, and nothing that is truly different? (8) Today we seek to change our minds about the source of sickness, for we seek a cure for all illusions, not another shift among them. We will try today to find the source of healing, which is in our minds because our Father placed it there for us. It is not farther from us than ourselves. It is as near to us as our own thoughts; so close it is impossible to lose. We need but seek it and it must be found. (9) We will not be misled today by what appears to us as sick. We go beyond appearances today and reach the source of healing, from which nothing is exempt. We will succeed to the extent to which we realize that there can never be a meaningful distinction made between what is untrue and equally untrue. Here there are no degrees, and no beliefs that what does not exist is truer in some forms than others. All of them are false, and can be cured because they are not true. (10) So do we lay aside our amulets, our charms and medicines, our chants and bit

Lesson 139. I will accept Atonement for myself. (1) Here is the end of choice. For here we come to a decision to accept ourselves as God created us. And what is choice except uncertainty of what we are? There is no doubt that is not rooted here. There is no question but reflects this one. There is no conflict that does not entail the single, simple question, "What am I?" (2) Yet who could ask this question except one who has refused to recognize himself? Only refusal to accept yourself could make the question seem to be sincere. The only thing that can be surely known by any living thing is what it is. From this one point of certainty, it looks on other things as certain as itself. (3) Uncertainty about what you must be is self-deception on a scale so vast, its magnitude can hardly be conceived. To be alive and not to know yourself is to believe that you are really dead. For what is life except to be yourself, and what but you can be alive instead? Who is the doubter? What is it he doubts? Whom does he question? Who can answer him? (4) He merely states that he is not himself, and therefore, being something else, becomes a questioner of what that something is. Yet he could never be alive at all unless he knew the answer. If he asks as if he does not know, it merely shows he does not want to be the thing he is. He has accepted it because he lives; has judged against it and denied its worth, and has decided that he does not know the only certainty by which he lives. (5) Thus he becomes uncertain of his life, for what it is has been denied by him. It is for this denial that you need Atonement. Your denial made no change in what you are. But you have split your mind into what knows and does not know the truth. You are yourself. There is no doubt of this. And yet you doubt it. But you do not ask what part of you can really doubt yourself. It cannot really be a part of you that asks this question. For it asks of one who knows the answer. Were it part of you, then certainty would be impossible. (6) Atonement remedies the strange idea that it is possible to doubt yourself, and be unsure of what you really are. This is the depth of madness. Yet it is the universal question of the world. What does this mean except the world is mad? Why share its madness in the sad belief that what is universal here is true? (7) Nothing the world believes is true. It is a place whose purpose is to be a home where those who claim they do not know themselves can come to question what it is they are. And they will come again until the time Atonement is accepted, and they learn it is impossible to doubt yourself, and not to be aware of what you are. (8) Only acceptance can be asked of you, for what you are is certain. It is set forever in the holy Mind of God, and in your own. It is so far beyond all doubt and question that to ask what it must be is all the proof you need to show that you believe the contradiction that you know not what you cannot fail to know. Is this a question, or a statement which denies itself in statement? Let us not allow our holy minds to occupy themselves with senseless musings such as this. (9) We have a mission here. We did not come to reinforce the madness that we once believed in. Let us not forget the goal that we accepted. It is more than just our happiness alone we came to gain. What we accept as what we are proclaims what everyone must be, along with us. Fail not your brothers, or you fail yourself. Look lovingly on them, that they may know that they are part of you, and you of them. (10) This does Atonement teach, and demonstrates the Oneness of God's Son is unassailed by his belief he knows not what he is. Today accept Atonement, not to change reality, but merely to accept the truth about yourself, and go your way rejoicing in the endless Love of God. It is but this that we are asked to do. It is but this that we will do today. (11) Five minutes in the morning and at night we will devote to dedicate our minds to our assignment for today. We start with this review of what our mission is: I will accept Atonement for mys

Lesson 138. Heaven is the decision I must make. (1) In this world Heaven is a choice, because here we believe there are alternatives to choose between. We think that all things have an opposite, and what we want we choose. If Heaven exists there must be hell as well, for contradiction is the way we make what we perceive, and what we think is real. (2) Creation knows no opposite. But here is opposition part of being "real." It is this strange perception of the truth that makes the choice of Heaven seem to be the same as the relinquishment of hell. It is not really thus. Yet what is true in God's creation cannot enter here until it is reflected in some form the world can understand. Truth cannot come where it could only be perceived with fear. For this would be the error truth can be brought to illusions. Opposition makes the truth unwelcome, and it cannot come. (3) Choice is the obvious escape from what appears as opposites. Decision lets one of conflicting goals become the aim of effort and expenditure of time. Without decision, time is but a waste and effort dissipated. It is spent for nothing in return, and time goes by without results. There is no sense of gain, for nothing is accomplished; nothing learned. (4) You need to be reminded that you think a thousand choices are confronting you, when there is really only one to make. And even this but seems to be a choice. Do not confuse yourself with all the doubts that myriad decisions would induce. You make but one. And when that one is made, you will perceive it was no choice at all. For truth is true, and nothing else is true. There is no opposite to choose instead. There is no contradiction to the truth. (5) Choosing depends on learning. And the truth cannot be learned, but only recognized. In recognition its acceptance lies, and as it is accepted it is known. But knowledge is beyond the goals we seek to teach within the framework of this course. Ours are teaching goals, to be attained through learning how to reach them, what they are, and what they offer you. Decisions are the outcome of your learning, for they rest on what you have accepted as the truth of what you are, and what your needs must be. (6) In this insanely complicated world, Heaven appears to take the form of choice, rather than merely being what it is. Of all the choices you have tried to make this is the simplest, most definitive and prototype of all the rest, the one which settles all decisions. If you could decide the rest, this one remains unsolved. But when you solve this one, the others are resolved with it, for all decisions but conceal this one by taking different forms. Here is the final and the only choice in which is truth accepted or denied. (7) So we begin today considering the choice that time was made to help us make. Such is its holy purpose, now transformed from the intent you gave it; that it be a means for demonstrating hell is real, hope changes to despair, and life itself must in the end be overcome by death. In death alone are opposites resolved, for ending opposition is to die. And thus salvation must be seen as death, for life is seen as conflict. To resolve the conflict is to end your life as well. (8) These mad beliefs can gain unconscious hold of great intensity, and grip the mind with terror and anxiety so strong that it will not relinquish its ideas about its own protection. It must be saved from salvation, threatened to be safe, and magically armored against truth. And these decisions are made unaware, to keep them safely undisturbed; apart from question and from reason and from doubt. (9) Heaven is chosen consciously. The choice cannot be made until alternatives are accurately seen and understood. All that is veiled in shadows must be raised to understanding, to be judged again, this time with Heaven's help. And all mistakes in judgment that the mind had made before are open to correction, as the truth dismisses them as causeless. Now are they without effects. They cannot be concealed, because their nothingness is recognized. (10) The conscious choice of Heaven is as sure

Lesson 137. When I am healed I am not healed alone. (1) Today's idea remains the central thought on which salvation rests. For healing is the opposite of all the world's ideas which dwell on sickness and on separate states. Sickness is a retreat from others, and a shutting off of joining. It becomes a door that closes on a separate self, and keeps it isolated and alone. (2) Sickness is isolation. For it seems to keep one self apart from all the rest, to suffer what the others do not feel. It gives the body final power to make the separation real, and keep the mind in solitary prison, split apart and held in pieces by a solid wall of sickened flesh, which it can not surmount. (3) The world obeys the laws that sickness serves, but healing operates apart from them. It is impossible that anyone be healed alone. In sickness must he be apart and separate. But healing is his own decision to be one again, and to accept his Self with all Its parts intact and unassailed. In sickness does his Self appear to be dismembered, and without the unity that gives It life. But healing is accomplished as he sees the body has no power to attack the universal Oneness of God's Son. (4) Sickness would prove that lies must be the truth. But healing demonstrates that truth is true. The separation sickness would impose has never really happened. To be healed is merely to accept what always was the simple truth, and always will remain exactly as it has forever been. Yet eyes accustomed to illusions must be shown that what they look upon is false. So healing, never needed by the truth, must demonstrate that sickness is not real. (5) Healing might thus be called a counter-dream, which cancels out the dream of sickness in the name of truth, but not in truth itself. Just as forgiveness overlooks all sins that never were accomplished, healing but removes illusions that have not occurred. Just as the real world will arise to take the place of what has never been at all, healing but offers restitution for imagined states and false ideas which dreams embroider into pictures of the truth. (6) Yet think not healing is unworthy of your function here. For anti-Christ becomes more powerful than Christ to those who dream the world is real. The body seems to be more solid and more stable than the mind. And love becomes a dream, while fear remains the one reality that can be seen and justified and fully understood. (7) Just as forgiveness shines away all sin and the real world will occupy the place of what you made, so healing must replace the fantasies of sickness which you hold before the simple truth. When sickness has been seen to disappear in spite of all the laws that hold it cannot but be real, then questions have been answered. And the laws can be no longer cherished nor obeyed. (8) Healing is freedom. For it demonstrates that dreams will not prevail against the truth. Healing is shared. And by this attribute it proves that laws unlike the ones which hold that sickness is inevitable are more potent than their sickly opposites. Healing is strength. For by its gentle hand is weakness overcome, and minds that were walled off within a body free to join with other minds, to be forever strong. (9) Healing, forgiveness, and the glad exchange of all the world of sorrow for a world where sadness cannot enter, are the means by which the Holy Spirit urges you to follow Him. His gentle lessons teach how easily salvation can be yours; how little practice you need undertake to let His laws replace the ones you made to hold yourself a prisoner to death. His life becomes your own, as you extend the little help He asks in freeing you from everything that ever caused you pain. (10) And as you let yourself be healed, you see all those around you, or who cross your mind, or whom you touch or those who seem to have no contact with you, healed along with you. Perhaps you will not recognize them all, nor realize how great your offering to all the world, when you let healing come to you. But you are never healed alone. And legions upon legions will receive the gift that you receiv

Lesson 136. Sickness is a defense against the truth. (1) No one can heal unless he understands what purpose sickness seems to serve. For then he understands as well its purpose has no meaning. Being causeless and without a meaningful intent of any kind, it cannot be at all. When this is seen, healing is automatic. It dispels this meaningless illusion by the same approach that carries all of them to truth, and merely leaves them there to disappear. (2) Sickness is not an accident. Like all defenses, it is an insane device for self-deception. And like all the rest, its purpose is to hide reality, attack it, change it, render it inept, distort it, twist it, or reduce it to a little pile of unassembled parts. The aim of all defenses is to keep the truth from being whole. The parts are seen as if each one were whole within itself. (3) Defenses are not unintentional, nor are they made without awareness. They are secret, magic wands you wave when truth appears to threaten what you would believe. They seem to be unconscious but because of the rapidity with which you choose to use them. In that second, even less, in which the choice is made, you recognize exactly what you would attempt to do, and then proceed to think that it is done. (4) Who but yourself evaluates a threat, decides escape is necessary, and sets up a series of defenses to reduce the threat that has been judged as real? All this cannot be done unconsciously. But afterwards, your plan requires that you must forget you made it, so it seems to be external to your own intent; a happening beyond your state of mind, an outcome with a real effect on you, instead of one effected by yourself. (5) It is this quick forgetting of the part you play in making your "reality" that makes defenses seem to be beyond your own control. But what you have forgot can be remembered, given willingness to reconsider the decision which is doubly shielded by oblivion. Your not remembering is but the sign that this decision still remains in force, as far as your desires are concerned. Mistake not this for fact. Defenses must make facts unrecognizable. They aim at doing this, and it is this they do. (6) Every defense takes fragments of the whole, assembles them without regard to all their true relationships, and thus constructs illusions of a whole that is not there. It is this process that imposes threat, and not whatever outcome may result. When parts are wrested from the whole and seen as separate and wholes within themselves, they become symbols standing for attack upon the whole; successful in effect, and never to be seen as whole again. And yet you have forgotten that they stand but for your own decision of what should be real, to take the place of what is real. (7) Sickness is a decision. It is not a thing that happens to you, quite unsought, which makes you weak and brings you suffering. It is a choice you make, a plan you lay, when for an instant truth arises in your own deluded mind, and all your world appears to totter and prepare to fall. Now are you sick, that truth may go away and threaten your establishments no more. (8) How do you think that sickness can succeed in shielding you from truth? Because it proves the body is not separate from you, and so you must be separate from the truth. You suffer pain because the body does, and in this pain are you made one with it. Thus is your "true" identity preserved, and the strange, haunting thought that you might be something beyond this little pile of dust silenced and stilled. For see, this dust can make you suffer, twist your limbs and stop your heart, commanding you to die and cease to be." (9)"Thus is the body stronger than the truth, which asks you live, but cannot overcome your choice to die. And so the body is more powerful than everlasting life, Heaven more frail than hell, and God's design for the salvation of His Son opposed by a decision stronger than His Will. His Son is dust, the Father incomplete, and chaos sits in triumph on His throne. (10) Such is your planning for your own defense. And you believe that Heaven quails bef

Lesson 135. If I defend myself I am attacked. (1) Who would defend himself unless he thought he were attacked, that the attack were real, and that his own defense could save himself? And herein lies the folly of defense; it gives illusions full reality, and then attempts to handle them as real. It adds illusions to illusions, thus making correction doubly difficult. And it is this you do when you attempt to plan the future, activate the past, or organize the present as you wish. (2) You operate from the belief you must protect yourself from what is happening because it must contain what threatens you. A sense of threat is an acknowledgment of an inherent weakness; a belief that there is danger which has power to call on you to make appropriate defense. The world is based on this insane belief. And all its structures, all its thoughts and doubts, its penalties and heavy armaments, its legal definitions and its codes, its ethics and its leaders and its gods, all serve but to preserve its sense of threat. For no one walks the world in armature but must have terror striking at his heart. (3) Defense is frightening. It stems from fear, increasing fear as each defense is made. You think it offers safety. Yet it speaks of fear made real and terror justified. Is it not strange you do not pause to ask, as you elaborate your plans and make your armor thicker and your locks more tight, what you defend, and how, and against what? (4) Let us consider first what you defend. It must be something that is very weak and easily assaulted. It must be something made easy prey, unable to protect itself and needing your defense. What but the body has such frailty that constant care and watchful, deep concern are needful to protect its little life? What but the body falters and must fail to serve the Son of God as worthy host? (5) Yet it is not the body that can fear, nor be a thing of fear. It has no needs but those which you assign to it. It needs no complicated structures of defense, no health-inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all. Defend its life, or give it gifts to make it beautiful or walls to make it safe, and you but say your home is open to the thief of time, corruptible and crumbling, so unsafe it must be guarded with your very life. (6) Is not this picture fearful? Can you be at peace with such a concept of your home? Yet what endowed the body with the right to serve you thus except your own belief? It is your mind which gave the body all the functions that you see in it, and set its value far beyond a little pile of dust and water. Who would make defense of something that he recognized as this? (7) The body is in need of no defense. This cannot be too often emphasized. It will be strong and healthy if the mind does not abuse it by assigning it to roles it cannot fill, to purposes beyond its scope, and to exalted aims which it cannot accomplish. Such attempts, ridiculous yet deeply cherished, are the sources for the many mad attacks you make upon it. For it seems to fail your hopes, your needs, your values and your dreams. (8) The "self" that needs protection is not real. The body, valueless and hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over. Who would want to keep it when its usefulness is done? (9) Defend the body and you have attacked your mind. For you have seen in it the faults, the weaknesses, the limits and the lacks from which you think the body must be saved. You will not see the mind as separate from bodily conditions. And you will impose upon the body all the pain that comes from the conception of the mind as limited and fragile, and apart from other minds and separate from its Source. (10) These are the thoughts in need of healing, and the body will respond with health when they have been corrected and replaced with truth. This is the body's only real defense. Yet is this where you look for its defense? You offer it protection of a kind from which it gains no benef

Lesson 134. Let me perceive forgiveness as it is. (1) Let us review the meaning of "forgive," for it is apt to be distorted and to be perceived as something that entails an unfair sacrifice of righteous wrath, a gift unjustified and undeserved, and a complete denial of the truth. In such a view, forgiveness must be seen as mere eccentric folly, and this course appear to rest salvation on a whim. (2) This twisted view of what forgiveness means is easily corrected, when you can accept the fact that pardon is not asked for what is true. It must be limited to what is false. It is irrelevant to everything except illusions. Truth is God's creation, and to pardon that is meaningless. All truth belongs to Him, reflects His laws and radiates His Love. Does this need pardon? How can you forgive the sinless and eternally benign? (3) The major difficulty that you find in genuine forgiveness on your part is that you still believe you must forgive the truth, and not illusions. You conceive of pardon as a vain attempt to look past what is there; to overlook the truth, in an unfounded effort to deceive yourself by making an illusion true. This twisted viewpoint but reflects the hold that the idea of sin retains as yet upon your mind, as you regard yourself. (4) Because you think your sins are real, you look on pardon as deception. For it is impossible to think of sin as true and not believe forgiveness is a lie. Thus is forgiveness really but a sin, like all the rest. It says the truth is false, and smiles on the corrupt as if they were as blameless as the grass; as white as snow. It is delusional in what it thinks it can accomplish. It would see as right the plainly wrong; the loathsome as the good. (5) Pardon is no escape in such a view. It merely is a further sign that sin is unforgivable, at best to be concealed, denied or called another name, for pardon is a treachery to truth. Guilt cannot be forgiven. If you sin, your guilt is everlasting. Those who are forgiven from the view their sins are real are pitifully mocked and twice condemned; first, by themselves for what they think they did, and once again by those who pardon them. (6) It is sin's unreality that makes forgiveness natural and wholly sane, a deep relief to those who offer it; a quiet blessing where it is received. It does not countenance illusions, but collects them lightly, with a little laugh, and gently lays them at the feet of truth. And there they disappear entirely. (7) Forgiveness is the only thing that stands for truth in the illusions of the world. It sees their nothingness, and looks straight through the thousand forms in which they may appear. It looks on lies, but it is not deceived. It does not heed the self-accusing shrieks of sinners mad with guilt. It looks on them with quiet eyes, and merely says to them, "My brother, what you think is not the truth. (8) The strength of pardon is its honesty, which is so uncorrupted that it sees illusions as illusions, not as truth. It is because of this that it becomes the undeceiver in the face of lies; the great restorer of the simple truth. By its ability to overlook what is not there, it opens up the way to truth, which has been blocked by dreams of guilt. Now are you free to follow in the way your true forgiveness opens up to you. For if one brother has received this gift of you, the door is open to yourself. (9) There is a very simple way to find the door to true forgiveness, and perceive it open wide in welcome. When you feel that you are tempted to accuse someone of sin in any form, do not allow your mind to dwell on what you think he did, for that is self-deception. Ask instead, "Would I accuse myself of doing this?" (10) Thus will you see alternatives for choice in terms that render choosing meaningful, and keep your mind as free of guilt and pain as God Himself intended it to be, and as it is in truth. It is but lies that would condemn. In truth is innocence the only thing there is. Forgiveness stands between illusions and the truth; between the world you see and that which lies beyond; between the hell of g