Today is our final day of the review after twenty days of reminding ourselves we are not a body. Now we are asked to remember that any road but the road home takes us nowhere. There is no peace except the peace of God, when we are lost on other roads than this, but we have to come to this realization ourselves. Until we do, we will wander the many roads where we go alone. As long as we rely on our own will, we will remain lost. It is not because we are lost, but because we are not aware of our true reality as a Son of God. We cannot separate from His Love, but we can choose to wander from it.

Our freedom is in remembering the truth about ourselves, which is to release the blocks to love. These blocks are based entirely on our egoic thought system. Thus, it is up to us to remain vigilant of the thoughts that block our awareness of the truth and bring them to the Holy Spirit. It is not about trying to change behavior nor thinking our peace comes from anything external to ourselves. We are responsible for the way we think, not the way we act. "You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what you think. The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think." (T.2.VI.2.5-7)(ACIM OE T.2.IV.73) Further on in the same section, Jesus says that behavior "is controlled by me [Jesus] automatically as soon as you place what you think under my guidance." (T.2.VI.2.9)(ACIM OE T.2.IV.74) Thus, it is all about changing our minds, and the behavior will follow.
 
When we do the healing work and become a clearer channel for the Holy Spirit, the body can be used by Him for His holy purpose. Peace will only come when we "follow Him Who leads me home." (W.220.1.3) There is no question about the certainty of our homecoming, but it requires that we join with our brothers in equality. As Jesus reminds us:
 
"This brother neither leads nor follows us, but walks beside us on the selfsame road. He is like us, as near or far away from what we want as we will let him be. We make no gains he does not make with us, and we fall back if he does not advance. Take not his hand in anger but in love, for in his progress do you count your own. And we go separately along the way unless you keep him safely by your side." (T.31.II.6.5-9)(ACIM OE T.31.II.20)
 
"Together is your joint inheritance remembered and accepted by you both. Alone it is denied to both of you. Is it not clear that while you still insist on leading or on following, you think you walk alone, with no one by your side? This is the road to nowhere, for the light cannot be given while you walk alone, and so you cannot see which way you go. And thus there is confusion, and a sense of endless doubting as you stagger back and forward in the darkness and alone. Yet these are but appearances of what the journey is, and how it must be made. For next to you is One Who holds the light before you, so that every step is made in certainty and sureness of the road. A blindfold can indeed obscure your sight, but cannot make the way itself grow dark. And He Who travels with you has the light." (T.31.II.11.1-9)(ACIM OE T.31.II.25)
 
That destination can be delayed by our own choice. We can get lost on other roads. In fact, that is how the ego counsels. It keeps assuring us that we can find peace, if we keep looking for it in the world, whether it is through a special relationship, making more money, getting the right job, or achieving fame and status. Yet there is no peace to be found in any of these worldly pursuits. The peace is only in our choice for healing. The Lesson reminds us to "Let me not wander from the way of peace" (W.220.1.2) because indeed this will simply delay us. Let us focus on remembering we want to take the way of peace which is only available by following "Him Who leads us home."  (W.220.1.3) His light will guide us and our brothers walk with us.
 
This means that we engage in mind watching, keep affirming the truth about our reality, stay open to guidance and follow in the way we are led by the Holy Spirit. It means we stay very vigilant to the way the ego will disguise itself behind special relationships, false empathy, giving to get, "lovingly" correcting others, debating issues, seeing differences, holding opinions and trying to control both events and people in our lives. They are our ways of attacking that we often keep hidden from our awareness. Any problem or conflict we try to resolve on our own is another way the ego keeps us from peace.

"The ego always tries to preserve conflict. It is very ingenious in devising ways that seem to diminish conflict, because it does not want you to find conflict so intolerable that you will insist on giving it up." (T.7.VIII.2.2-3)(ACIM OE T.7.IX.84) I was recently at a function where the conversation turned to a discussion about breaking and entering. A request was made, by one of those attending, that the group not discuss this topic because it created anxiety in this person. This is an example of how we try to control external events rather than going back to the mind where the answer is available for the fear that was showing up. The only way to peace is within. Changing anything in form will never address the problem. There is only one problem and one solution. It is all the same.
 
When we think we know how to solve the problems we perceive in our lives, it all comes from projected fear of not knowing who we are. The only sanity is within. Outside is insanity.  Jesus reminds us of this when he says, "Inward is sanity; insanity is outside you." (T.18.I.7.4)(ACIM OE T.18.II.7) We are being called to remain focused on what is going on within, otherwise we step right back into the delusion. Our moments of sanity come from this inward focus. As soon as we get caught up in the world with feelings of anger, impatience, annoyance, jealousy, we are focusing our attention outside, where there can be no healing. It is always about bringing everything back into the mind.
 
I was walking with Don, and he decided to go through a rocky, muddy area. I was wearing sandals and told him I did not want to go there, but he went anyway, so I continued on the same path and met up with him down the road. Annoyance flared up in me that he would disregard my request to stay on the sidewalk. I took a moment to go within and looked at my feelings of being disrespected, disregarded, unimportant to him and so on. Rather than act on those feelings, I chose to go within and release them. How easy it is to do and yet how resistant we can be. I shared my process with him, as a lesson for myself of what I wanted to practice more and more, so that the ego's dominance in my life could be increasingly released. And in that sharing, love was not disrupted by attack.

This Lesson ends the first part of the workbook. It is now the final reminder of the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit and not the ego. Jesus is urging us not to get lost in the illusion, but to keep focused on opening up to real peace. We are urged to turn to the Truth already in our minds and not to listen to the thoughts coming from the ego. We are also urged to be willing to have the thoughts, which are not the truth, be corrected. I can't over emphasize the importance of this willingness and daily application, as situations and events show up in our lives to be brought to truth. Otherwise, we are just holding lovely thoughts when it is convenient for us to do so rather than doing the work of undoing the ego with the support of our Inner Teacher and Guide. It is all about the purpose that we hold against the back-drop of our day to day activities. Thus, the activities become less important than the purpose we hold.

Everything in our day is another opportunity to look at purpose more deeply and truly recognize that our freedom has nothing to do with the demands of the day. It is all about maintaining vigilance and staying focused on our purpose, which is to awaken and not to get lost on the roads of this world. Every situation is just a backdrop to look at how we can best learn the lesson that we are one with all there is. This gives meaning to our day and helps us to remember our Father's love for us.

Let us watch our thoughts today with honesty and courage and recognize our projections that maintain our guilt. They block our awareness of the truth. We don't have to ask for peace. We already have it. All we need to do is recognize, moment by moment, how we are blocking the reality of who we are from our awareness. As we do this, we keep asking Holy Spirit, "What would you have me do?" This question includes questions such as, "How would you have me think about this?" "How would you have me see this situation?" "What would you have me know?" "How shall I respond to this?" We are going beyond our own perspectives and are willing to be wrong about the way we currently see.