This is the first of the Workbook's seven "giant strides" lessons. It suggests that if we get these lessons, we can make significant progress by using them " to build a firm foundation." (W.61.7.4)

Here we are already two months into the year for those of us who started the lessons all over again on January 1. You may recognize more resistance coming up as the lessons take you deeper and deeper into the mind because the ego starts to recognize that its days are numbered. Conflict may now increase because we are more and more aware of the right-minded thought system. Now there are two choices in every situation, the choice for the ego or the choice for the Spirit. Jesus talks about this in describing the first lesson of the Holy Spirit where he says, " This step may appear to exacerbate conflict rather than resolve it, because it is the beginning step in reversing your perception and turning it right-side up. This conflicts with the upside-down perception you have not yet abandoned, or the change in direction would not have been necessary. Some remain at this step for a long time, experiencing very acute conflict." (T.6.V.A.6)(ACIM OE T.6.V.a.69)
 

While you may notice the resistance, perhaps determination has also increased as benefits are noted and you experience more witnesses to the miracle. We can increasingly see that it is ourselves we crucify when we project our guilt, blame and attack. Why would we want to continue to hurt ourselves, when we can see that we have the power in our own minds to make a better choice?

With this first review we have now completed, we have been helped with the integration of the thought system. We have been encouraged to let our minds come up with related thoughts. The lessons have taken on a deeper meaning and we increasingly recognize that the thoughts presented in the lessons are already in our right minds. " Yet as long as you prefer to be something else, or would attempt to be nothing else and something else together, you will not remember the language of communication, which you know perfectly." (T.15.VI.7.8)(ACIM OE T.15.VII.63) This is the language of communication that reflects the real thoughts that are in our right minds. That is why we recognize them as the truth, even if there is resistance. The resistance is simply our fear of love. It is our fear of who we really are.
 

We have become comfortable with the separate self and with the thoughts that we hold that are familiar to us, even if they don't bring us deep peace and release from our pain. Tolerance for pain is not without limit. " Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way." (T.2.III.3.5-6)(ACIM OE T.2.II.48) We are learning to see more and more that we can never find the happiness that we are seeking in the things of the world. Jesus keeps asking us why would we want to continue to hurt ourselves when peace and happiness are available behind every problem we perceive. Increasingly we become more aware that no matter what pleasures we seek for in the world, we are ultimately seeking more pain and experiencing more guilt and fear.
 

There is still confusion in our minds because of the two thought systems we hold. " You speak two languages at once, and this must lead to unintelligibility," (T.14.VI.7.5)(ACIM OE T.14.III.22) but increasingly we will learn to discern the difference between the Holy Spirit and the ego.
 

This is a very important lesson, " the first of a number of giant steps we will take in the next few weeks. Try today to begin to build a firm foundation for these advances." (W.61.7.3-4) Each lesson contributes to letting go of " the ego's petty views of what you are and what your purpose is." (W.61.7.1) With each lesson, we are taking steps daily to undo the concept that we have made of who we think we are and building a new concept that reflects the truth. The steps we take are gently laid out. There is nothing to fear. Jesus holds our hand. We do not go alone into the darkness of our false beliefs about ourselves.
   

Jesus says that as God's Son, we are the light of the world, which is " merely a statement of truth about yourself." (W.61.1.2) Here arrogance is redefined. If we do not accept that we are the light of the world, Jesus says, " It is only arrogance that would assert this function cannot be for you, and arrogance is always of the ego." (W.61.2.5) God assigned us this function. If God tells us we are the light of the world, our response should not be, "Sorry God. You must be wrong because I am a miserable sinner." The reason that His statement is true is that we are God's Son, which is a fact, and as such, our nature is light. It is a light that shines through us to the world through our Being. This is experienced every time we let go of the dark thoughts of the ego. By radiating this light we are fulfilling our function. We are extending this light through our Being, which is reflected in our behaviors and our words. No matter what else we might be doing in this world, it is only a backdrop for our true function, which is to bring light to the darkness, but it is always the darkness of our own minds that is being talked about. Thus, the light cannot shine through us unless the darkness is released.
   

The ego is entirely about self glorification. This lesson says that it is not humility to insist that you can't be the light of the world. Indeed it is arrogance. Why? Because we are saying we are right about the way we have defined ourselves and God is wrong. Arrogance is about claiming something for yourself that is not really yours. It is arrogant for me to think that I know better than God. To be humble is to admit that no matter what I think is right about me, I do not know. I submit that only God knows. We are told here that we are the light of the world. Then this must be so, but what does this really mean? It means that God is with us because He is in our minds and we are in Him. The light of the world is the light of Christ shining in our minds. Humility requires that we accept the truth of this because of Who it comes from. It is not this self that I define as me, the one that thinks it is a body and personality, that is the light that shines. It is my Being, which is covered over by the personality and my identity with the body. God is the Source of my Being. All of my self-concepts, all my personality characteristics, and all of the ways I describe and define myself are wrong. To be the light of the world " It does not describe the self-concept you have made. It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you have endowed your idols. It refers to you as you were created by God. It simply states the truth." (W.61.1.4-7)
 

From the perspective of the ego mind, this thought seems grandiose, and it is if we take this idea and use it for our own spiritual aggrandizement, by thinking we are more important for the salvation of the world than anyone else, and believing that we are more advanced, with special characteristics that others don't have. That is just another way that the ego glorifies itself. This is not a special characteristic about Sarah, or Jack or Joe. It gives us no special status. It is what God has given to everyone. It is the truth about all of us. To take it for myself and think that my special little self can bring you the gift of light is only spiritual arrogance. This light can only be reflected through me, when that which blocks it is addressed. Thus, the main function I have is still forgiveness.

Jesus tells us that to be the light of the world is in our original specifications as we were created. It has been determined by God. It is not about how we feel. It is about our reality...who we really are. In the Bible only Jesus is called the light of the world. In the Bible in John 8:12 Jesus is said to have declared, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." From this perspective only Jesus holds that status as the light of the world. He came to illuminate this dark world and came to save everyone, but now he tells us in the Course, " You are the light of the world with me." (T.5.II.10.3)(ACIM OE T.5.IV.28) He says that we have the same power and that " My mind will always be like yours, because we were created as equals." (T.5.II.9.1)(ACIM OE T.5.IV.27) He goes on to say that it was his decision to listen only to the Voice of the Holy Spirit that gave him that power and that he is now helping us to make " the same decision." (T.5.II.9.3)(ACIM OE T.5.IV.27) This does seem grandiose to us when we think about it. Yet we are told that to accept this " is a positive assertion of your right to be saved, and an acknowledgment of the power that is given you to save others." (W.61.3.4) " Do the Holy Spirit's work, for you share in His function. As your function in Heaven is creation, so your function on earth is healing. God shares His function with you in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit shares His with you on earth. As long as you believe you have other functions, so long will you need correction. For this belief is the destruction of peace, a goal in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit's purpose." (T.12.VII.4.6-10)(ACIM OE T.11.VIII.64)
         

We are here to be a savior to our brothers, which can only be accomplished through our function of healing our own minds. As we do the healing, we demonstrate to others that they too can make the same choice that we have made. In other words, we become an example of the Atonement. Our own healing is always about bringing the darkness to the light. It is our own self judgment that is projected on others and thus we feel judged in return. We gave meaning to the behavior of significant people in our lives and as a result we judged ourselves as unworthy of their love. All of the feelings that we now use to attack ourselves must be brought to the light of truth where they can be shined away. They are our misperceptions that we hold about ourselves and project onto others. When we bring " all the images you [we] have made about yourself to the truth," ( W.61.4.3) Jesus says,  " helps you depart in peace, unburdened and certain of your purpose." (W.61.4.3) This is our goal of healing. This is the Atonement. This is how the light can shine through us.
 

Teach only love for that is what you are. As we teach through demonstration, we will know that the light is in us. That is the only way we CAN know it, but it requires that we continually do the work of bringing our own darkness to the light. Extending love to others is not done by us but through us. It is important that we always remember that it is not these characters in the dream that know anything about bringing salvation to anyone. It is the light in us that extends on its own. That light is of the Holy Spirit not of us, and it is in everyone.

" This quiet center, in which you do nothing, will remain with you, giving you rest in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent." (T.18.VII.8.3)(ACIM OE T.18.VIII.70) While it is true that there is no one out there and the world is an illusion, while we believe in its reality, we have a function here. It is not just about our own awakening. There are many busy doings to which we will be called and it is there that the light of our Being can shine through us. We do the healing so that we can be the conduit to extend this light to our brothers and sisters and undertake this as our only function here. It is our " real function on earth." (W.61.3.2) " It is the perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation." (W.61.4.2) What is the temptation? It is the temptation to forget your function of forgiveness by holding grievances. It is to get caught up in the belief that we are here for our comfort, the goodies of this world, to achieve, get ahead, compete and win at the expense of others, and build our self esteem. Are these things wrong? Should we feel guilty? No. They are simply meaningless. We simply need to increasingly recognize that they are distractions that keep us in the illusion thus distracting us from the gifts that are given by God and waiting for us to claim. These are gifts of peace, joy, innocence---all gifts that are eternal.
   

The practice instructions for the lesson tell us to think about this idea as often as possible today. Do as many practice periods as possible today. Set a goal for this. Determine in advance how often you will try to remember the truth that, " I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here." (W.61.5.3-5)

We continue to bring the thoughts that block this light to the truth. When the blocks are lifted, the light extends through us with no effort, because it is in our Being and extends to other Beings who can make the same choice that we have made. We thus can be an example of that choice in every busy doing in which we are engaged. To think we have the light and others don't is spiritual specialness and enhances separation.

Think about what this statement means preferably with your eyes closed and let some related thoughts come to you. Let the thoughts come in such a way that you make the idea your own. Speak to yourself about what it means to you. If your mind wanders, just repeat the idea. Remember, you are taking a giant step here in doing this lesson. That is how important it is in what we will be doing in our lessons over the next few weeks.

Start the day and end the day with the thought. You may want to take more time for the morning and evening sessions. Affirm the truth about yourself and take the idea into your day and into your sleep asking the Holy Spirit to walk with you and channel His light in everything you think and do as you wake and take the idea into the day and as you go to sleep at night. This thought will only be transforming when there is willingness to look at our darkness and allow it to be given over to the Holy Spirit. Our work today continues to be one of forgiveness where we bring our upsets to the truth throughout the day. With every circumstance, every event and every person that tempts us to give away our peace, we remind ourselves that we must be mistaken in our perceptions and there must be another way of seeing this situation. Make space for the light that you are. It is always there behind the dark clouds of sin, guilt and fear.

 

TEXT

⁸³ The idea of "set" is among the better psychological concepts. Actually, it is used quite frequently in the Bible and also in this course under many different terms. For example, "God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed (or set) on Him," a statement which means that God's peace is set in the Holy Spirit because it is fixed on God. It is also fixed in you. You, then, are fixed in the peace of God. The concept of "fixation" is also a very helpful one which Freud understood perfectly. Unfortunately, he lost his understanding because he was afraid and, as you know all too well, fear is incompatible with good judgment. Fear distorts thinking and therefore disorders thought.

 

⁸⁴ Freud's system of thought was extremely ingenious because Freud was extremely ingenious, and a mind must endow its thoughts with its own attributes. This is its inherent strength, although it may misuse its power. Freud lost much of the potential value of his thought system because he did not include himself in it. This is a dissociated state because the thinker cuts himself off from his thoughts. Freud's thought was so conflicted that he could not have retained his sanity as he saw it without dissociation. That is why the many contradictions which are quite apparent in his thinking became increasingly less apparent to him. A man who knows what fixation really means and yet does not yield to it is terribly afraid.

 

⁸⁵ Fixation is the pull of God, on whom your mind is fixed because of the Holy Spirit's irrevocable set. "Irrevocable" means "cannot be called back or redirected." The irrevocable nature of the Holy Spirit's set is the basis for His unequivocal Voice. The Holy Spirit never changes His mind. Clarity of thought cannot occur under conditions of vacillation. Unless a mind is fixed in its purpose, it is not clear. Clarity literally means the state of light, and enlightenment is understanding. Enlightenment stands under perception because you have denied it as the real foundation of thought. This is the basis for all delusional systems.

 

⁸⁶ The concept of fixation as Freud saw it has a number of learning advantages. First, it recognizes that man can be fixated at a point in development which does not accord with a point in time. This clearly could have been a means toward real release from the time belief, had Freud pursued it with an open mind. Freud, however, suffered all his life from refusal to allow eternity to dawn upon his mind and enlighten it truly. As a result, he overlooked now entirely and merely saw the continuity of past and future.

 

⁸⁷ Second, although Freud misinterpreted what the Holy Spirit told him, or better, reminded him of, he was too honest to deny more than was necessary to keep his fear in tolerable bounds as he perceived the situation. Therefore, he emphasized that the point in development at which the mind is fixated is more real to itself than the external reality with which it disagrees. This again could have been a powerful release mechanism had Freud not decided to involve it in a strong defense system because he perceived it as an attack.

 

⁸⁸ Third, although Freud interpreted fixation as involving irrevocable "danger points" to which the mind could always regress, the concept can also be interpreted as an irrevocable call to sanity which the mind cannot lose. Freud himself could not accept this interpretation, but throughout his thought system, the "threat" of fixation remained and could never be eliminated by any living human being. Essentially, this was the basis of Freud's pessimism, personally as well as theoretically. He tried every means his very inventive mind could devise to set up a form of therapy which could enable the mind to escape from fixation forever, even though he knew this was impossible.

 

⁸⁹ This knowledge plagued Freud's belief in his own thought system at every turn because he was both an honest man and a healer. He was therefore only partially insane and was unable to relinquish the hope of release even though he could not cope with it. The reason for this amount of detail is because you are in the same position. You were eternally fixated on God in your creation, and the pull of this fixation is so strong that you will never overcome it. The reason is perfectly clear. The fixation is on a level so high that it cannot be surmounted. You are always being pulled back to your Creator because you belong to Him.

 

⁹⁰ Do you really believe you can make a voice that can drown out His? Do you really believe that you can devise a thought system which can separate you from His? Do you really believe that you can plan for your safety and joy better than He can? You need be neither careful nor careless; you need merely cast your cares upon Him because He careth for you. You are His care because He loves you. His Voice reminds you always that all hope is yours because of His care. You cannot choose to escape His care because that is not His Will, but you can choose to accept His care and use the infinite power of His care for all those He created by it.

 

⁹¹ There have been many healers who did not heal themselves. They have not moved mountains by their faith because their faith was not whole. Some of them have healed the sick at times, but they have not raised the dead. Unless the healer heals himself, he does not believe that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. He has not learned that every mind God created is equally worthy of being healed because God created it whole. You are merely asked to return to God the mind as He created it. He asks you only for what He gave, knowing that this giving will heal you. Sanity is wholeness, and the sanity of your brothers is yours.

 

⁹² Why should you listen to the endless insane calls which you think are made upon you when you know the Voice of God Himself is in you? God commended His Spirit to you and asks that you commend yours to Him. He wills to keep it in perfect peace because you are of one mind and spirit with Him. Excluding yourself from the Atonement is the ego's last-ditch defense of its own existence. It reflects both the ego's need to separate and your willingness to side with its separateness. This willingness means that you do not want to be healed.

 

⁹³ But the time is now. You have not been asked to work out the plan of salvation yourselves because, as I told you before, the remedy is not of your making. God Himself gave you the perfect correction for everything you have made which is not in accord with His holy Will. I have made His plan perfectly explicit to you and have also told you of your part in His plan and how urgent it is that you fulfill it. There is time for delay, but there need not be. God weeps at the "sacrifice" of His Children, who believe they are lost to Him.

 

⁹⁴ I have already told you that whenever you are not wholly joyous it is because you have reacted with a lack of love to some Soul which God created. Perceiving this as "sin," you become defensive because you expect attack. The decision to react in this way, however, is yours and can therefore be undone. It cannot be undone by repentance in the usual sense because this implies guilt. If you allow yourself to feel guilty, you will reinforce the error rather than allow it to be undone for you.

 

⁹⁵ Decisions cannot be difficult. This is obvious if you realize that you must already have made a decision not to be wholly joyous if that is how you feel. Therefore, the first step in the undoing is to recognize that you actively decided wrongly but can as actively decide otherwise. Be very firm with yourselves in this, and keep yourselves fully aware of the fact that the undoing process, which does not come from you, is nevertheless within you because God placed it there. Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was made and give it over to the Atonement in peace. Say to yourselves the following as sincerely as you can, remembering that the Holy Spirit will respond fully to your slightest invitation:

 

⁹⁶ I must have decided wrongly because I am not at peace. 

               

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