A Course in Miracles Experience

LESSON 138
Heaven is the decision I must make.

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.

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 t...

LESSON 137
When I am healed I am not healed alone.

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.

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 fina...

LESSON 136
Sickness is a defense against the truth.

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.

Sickness is not an accident. Like all defenses, it is an insane device for self-deception. And like all...

LESSON 135
If I defend myself I am attacked.

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.

You operate from the belief you must protect you...

LESSON 134
Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.

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.
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 mu...

LESSON 133
I will not value what is valueless.

Sometimes in teaching there is benefit, particularly after you have gone through what seems theoretical and far from what the student has already learned, to bring him back to practical concerns. This we will do today. We will not speak of lofty, world-encompassing ideas, but dwell instead on benefits to you.

You do not ask too much of life, but far too little. When you let your mind be drawn to bodily concerns, to things you buy, to eminence as valued by the world, you ask for...

LESSON 132
I loose the world from all I thought it was.

What keeps the world in chains but your beliefs? And what can save the world except your Self? Belief is powerful indeed. The thoughts you hold are mighty, and illusions are as strong in their effects as is the truth. A madman thinks the world he sees is real, and does not doubt it. Nor can he be swayed by question­ing his thoughts’ effects. It is but when their source is raised to question that the hope of freedom comes to him at last.

LESSON 131
No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

Failure is all about you while you seek for goals that cannot be achieved. You look for permanence in the impermanent, for love where there is none, for safety in the midst of danger; immortal­ity within the darkness of the dream of death. Who could succeed where contradiction is the setting of his searching, and the place to which he comes to find stability?

Goals that are meaningless are not attained. There is no way to reach them, for the means by which y...

LESSON 130
It is impossible to see two worlds.

Perception is consistent. What you see reflects your thinking. And your thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see. Your values are determiners of this, for what you value you must want to see, believing what you see is really there. No one can see a world his mind has not accorded value. And no one can fail to look upon what he believes he wants.

Yet who can really hate and love at once? Who can desire what he does not want to...

LESSON 129
Beyond this world there is a world I want.

This is the thought that follows from the one we practiced yesterday. You cannot stop with the idea the world is worthless, for unless you see that there is something else to hope for, you will only be depressed. Our emphasis is not on giving up the world, but on exchanging it for what is far more satisfying, filled with joy, and capable of offering you peace. Think you this world can offer that to you?

It might be worth a little time to think...

LESSON 128
The world I see holds nothing that I want.

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. 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.

Each thing you value here is...

LESSON 127
There is no love but God’s.

Perhaps you think that different kinds of love are possible. Perhaps you think there is a kind of love for this, a kind for that; a way of loving one, another way of loving still another. 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’s meaning is obscure to a...

LESSON 126
All that I give is given to myself.

Today’s idea, completely alien to the ego and the thinking of the world, is crucial to the thought reversal that this course will bring about. If you believed this statement, there would be no problem in complete forgiveness, certainty of goal, and sure direction. You would understand the means by which salvation comes to you, and would not hesitate to use it now.

Let us consider what you do believe, in place of this idea. It seems to you that other people are apart from yo...

LESSON 125
In quiet I receive God’s Word today.

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. No peace is possible until His Word is heard around the world; until your mind, in quiet listening, accepts the message that the world must hear to usher in the quiet time of peace.

This world will change through you. No other means can save it, for God’s plan is simp...

LESSON 124
Let me remember I am one with God.

Today we will again give thanks for our Identity in God. Our home is safe, protection guaranteed in all we do, power and strength available to us in all our undertakings. We can fail in nothing. Everything we touch takes on a shining light that blesses and that heals. At one with God and with the universe we go our way rejoicing, with the thought that God Himself goes everywhere with us.
How holy are our minds! And everything we see reflects the holiness within the mind...

LESSON 123
I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

Today let us be thankful. We have come to gentler pathways and to smoother roads. There is no thought of turning back, and no implacable resistance to the truth. A bit of wavering remains, some small objections and a little hesitance, but you can well be grateful for your gains, which are far greater than you realize.

A day devoted now to gratitude will add the benefit of some insight into the real extent of all the gains which you have made; the gifts you...

LESSON 122
Forgiveness offers everything I want.

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?

All this forgiveness offers you, and more. It sparkles...

LESSON 121
Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

Here is the answer to your search for peace. Here is the key to meaning in a world that seems to make no sense. Here is the way to safety in apparent dangers that appear to threaten you at every turn, and bring uncertainty to all your hopes of ever fin­d­ing quietness and peace. Here are all questions answered; here the end of all uncertainty ensured at last.

The unforgiving mind is full of fear, and offers love no room to be itself; no place where it...

LESSON 120

For morning and evening review:
(109) I rest in God.
I rest in God today, and let Him work in me and through me, while I rest in Him in quiet and in perfect certainty.
(110) I am as God created me.
I am God’s Son. Today I lay aside all sick illusions of myself, and let my Father tell me Who I really am.
On the hour:I rest in God.
On the half hour:I am as God created me.
- A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
https://iamacim.com...

LESSON 119
For morning and evening review:
(107) Truth will correct all errors in my mind.
I am mistaken when I think I can be hurt in any way. I am God’s Son, whose Self rests safely in the Mind of God.
(108) To give and to receive are one in truth.
I will forgive all things today, that I may learn how to accept the truth in me, and come to recognize my sinlessness.
On the hour:Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

On the half hour:To give and to rece...

LESSON 118
For morning and evening review:
(105) God’s peace and joy are mine.
Today I will accept God’s peace and joy, in glad ex­change for all the substitutes that I have made for happiness and peace.
(106) Let me be still and listen to the truth.
Let my own feeble voice be still, and let me hear the mighty Voice for Truth Itself assure me that I am God’s perfect Son.
On the hour:God’s peace and joy are mine.
On the half hour:Let me be still and listen to the trut...

LESSON 117
For morning and evening review:
(103) God, being Love, is also happiness.
Let me remember love is happiness, and nothing else brings joy. And so I choose to entertain no substitutes for love.
(104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
Love is my heritage, and with it joy. These are the gifts my Father gave to me. I would accept all that is mine in truth.
On the hour:God, being Love, is also happiness.
On the half hour:I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
- A Co...

LESSON 116
For morning and evening review:
(101) God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.
God’s Will is perfect happiness for me. And I can suffer but from the belief there is another will apart from His.
(102) I share God’s Will for happiness for me.
I share my Father’s Will for me, His Son. What He has given me is all I want. What He has given me is all there is.
On the hour:God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.

On the half hour:I share God’s Will for hap...

LESSON 115
For morning and evening review:
(99) Salvation is my only function here.

My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made. For thus am I released from them with all the world.
(100) My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.
I am essential to the plan of God for the salvation of the world. For He gave me His plan that I might save the world.
On the hour:Salvation is my only function here.
On the half hour:My part is essential to God’...

LESSON 114
For morning and evening review:
(97) I am spirit.
I am the Son of God. No body can contain my spirit, nor impose on me a limitation God created not.
(98) I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

What can my function be but to accept the Word of God, Who has created me for what I am and will for­ever be?
On the hour:I am spirit.
On the half hour:I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.-
A Course in Miracle...

LESSON 113
For morning and evening review:
(95) I am one Self, united with my Creator.Serenity and perfect peace are mine, because I am one Self, completely whole, at one with all creation and with God.
(96) Salvation comes from my one Self.From my one Self, Whose knowledge still remains within my mind, I see God’s perfect plan for my salva­tion perfectly fulfilled.
On the hour:I am one Self, united with my Creator.On the half hour:Salvation comes from my one Self.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
https://iamacim.com/113.html
...

LESSON 112
For morning and evening review:
(93) Light and joy and peace abide in me.I am the home of light and joy and peace. I welcome them into the home I share with God, because I am a part of Him.
(94) I am as God created me.I will remain forever as I was, created by the Change­less like Himself. And I am one with Him, and He with me.
On the hour:Light and joy and peace abide in me.On the half hour:I am as God created me.
- A Course in...

LESSON 111
For morning and evening review:
(91) Miracles are seen in light.I cannot see in darkness. Let the light of holiness and truth light up my mind, and let me see the innocence within.
(92) Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.I see through strength, the gift of God to me. My weakness is the dark His gift dispels, by giving me His strength to take its place.
On the hour:Miracles are seen in light.On the half hour:Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.
...

LESSON 110 I am as God created me.
We will repeat today’s idea from time to time. For this one thought would be enough to save you and the world, if you believed that it is true. Its truth would mean that you have made no changes in yourself that have reality, nor changed the universe so that what God created was replaced by fear and evil, misery and death. If you remain as God created you fear has no meaning, evil is not real, and misery and death do not exist.
Today’s idea is therefore all you...

LESSON 109 I rest in God.
We ask for rest today, and quietness unshaken by the world’s appearances. We ask for peace and stillness, in the midst of all the turmoil born of clashing dreams. We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on sorrow. And we have the thought that will answer our asking with what we request.
“I rest in God.” This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek. “I rest in God.” This thought has power to w...

LESSON 108 To give and to receive are one in truth.
Vision depends upon today’s idea. The light is in it, for it rec­onciles all seeming opposites. And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.
True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. It is...

LESSON 107 Truth will correct all errors in my mind.
What can correct illusions but the truth? And what are errors but illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? Where truth has entered errors disappear. They merely vanish, leaving not a trace by which to be remembered. They are gone because, without belief, they have no life. And so they disappear to noth­ingness, returning whence they came. From dust to dust they come and go, for only truth remains.
Can you imagine what a state of mind without illusions is? How it would feel? Try to remember w...

LESSON 106
Let me be still and listen to the truth.
If you will lay aside the ego’s voice, however loudly it may seem to call; if you will not accept its petty gifts that give you nothing that you really want; if you will listen with an open mind, that has not told you what salvation is; then you will hear the mighty Voice of truth, quiet in power, strong in stillness, and completely certain in Its messages.
Listen, and hear your Father speak to you through His appointed Voice, which silences the thunder of the me...

LESSON 105 God’s peace and joy are mine.
God’s peace and joy are yours. Today we will accept them, knowing they belong to us. And we will try to understand these gifts increase as we receive them. They are not like to the gifts the world can give, in which the giver loses as he gives the gift; the taker is the richer by his loss. Such are not gifts, but bargains made with guilt. The truly given gift entails no loss. It is impos­sible that one can gain because another loses. This implies a limit and an in...

LESSON 104 I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
Today’s idea continues with the thought that joy and peace are not but idle dreams. They are your right, because of what you are. They come to you from God, Who cannot fail to give you what He wills. Yet must there be a place made ready to receive His gifts. They are not welcomed gladly by a mind that has in­stead received the gifts it made where His belong, as substitutes for them.
Today we would remove all meaningless and self-made gifts which we have pla...

LESSON 103 God, being Love, is also happiness.
Happiness is an attribute of love. It cannot be apart from it. Nor can it be experienced where love is not. Love has no limits, being everywhere. And therefore joy is everywhere as well. Yet can the mind deny that this is so, believing there are gaps in love where sin can enter, bringing pain instead of joy. This strange belief would limit happiness by redefining love as limited, and introducing opposition in what has no limit and no opposite.
Fear is associated then with love, and its results become the...

LESSON 102 I share God’s Will for happiness for me.
You do not want to suffer. You may think it buys you some­thing, and may still believe a little that it buys you what you want. Yet this belief is surely shaken now, at least enough to let you question it, and to suspect it really makes no sense. It has not gone as yet, but lacks the roots that once secured it tightly to the dark and hidden secret places of your mind.
Today we try to loose its weakened hold still further, and to realize tha...

LESSON 101 God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.
Today we will continue with the theme of happiness. This is a key idea in understanding what salvation means. You still be­lieve it asks for suffering as penance for your “sins.” This is not so. Yet you must think it so while you believe that sin is real, and that God’s Son can sin.
If sin is real, then punishment is just and cannot be escaped. Salvation thus cannot be purchased but through suffering. If sin is real, then happiness must be illusion, for they cannot both be true...

LESSON 100 My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.
Just as God’s Son completes his Father, so your part in it completes your Father’s plan. Salvation must reverse the mad belief in separate thoughts and separate bodies, which lead separate lives and go their separate ways. One function shared by separate minds unites them in one purpose, for each one of them is equally essential to them all.
God’s Will for you is perfect happiness. Why should you choose to go against His Will? The part that He has saved for you to take in...

LESSON 99
Salvation is my only function here.
Salvation and forgiveness are the same. They both imply that something has gone wrong; something to be saved from, forgiven for; something amiss that needs corrective change; something apart or different from the Will of God. Thus do both terms imply a thing impossible but yet which has occurred, resulting in a state of conflict seen between what is and what could never be.
Truth and illusions both are equal now, for both have hap­pened. The impossible becomes the thing you need forgiveness for, salvation from. Salvation now becomes t...