illusion makes illusion. If you can
condemn you can be injured. For you have
believed that you can injure, and the right
you have established for yourself can be
now used against you, till you lay it down
as valueless, unwanted, and unreal.
Then does illusion cease to have effects,
and all it seemed to have will be undone.
Then are you free, for freedom is your gift,
and you can now receive the gift you gave.
Condemn and you are made a prisoner.
Forgive and you are freed. Such is the law
which rules perception. It is not a law
which knowledge understands, for freedom is
a part of knowledge. To condemn is thus
impossible in truth. What seems to be
its influence and its effects have not
occurred at all. Yet must we deal with them
a while as if they had. Illusion makes
illusion. Except one. Forgiveness is
illusion that is answer to the rest.
Forgiveness sweeps all other dreams away,
and though it is itself a dream, it breeds
no others. All illusions save this one
must multiply a thousand-fold. But this
is where illusions end. Forgiveness is
the end of dreams because it is a dream
of waking. It is not itself the truth.
Yet does it point to where the truth must be,
and give direction with the certainty
of God Himself. It is the dream in which
the Son of God awakens to HimSelf
and to his Father, knowing They are One.
Forgiveness is the only road that leads
out of disaster, past all suffering,
and finally away from death. How could
there be another way, when this one is
the plan of God Himself? And why should you
oppose it, quarrel with it, seek to find
a thousand ways in which it must be wrong;
a thousand other possibilities?
Is it not wiser to be glad you hold
the answer to salvation in your hand?
Is it not more intelligent to thank
the One Who gives salvation, and accept
His gift with gratitude? And is it not
a kindness to yourself to hear His Voice
and learn the simple lessons He would teach,
instead of trying to dismiss His Words
and substitute your own in place of His?|
His Words will work. His Words will save. His Words
contain all hope, all blessing and all joy
that ever can be found upon this earth.
His Words are born in God, and come to you
with Heaven's love upon them. Those who hear
His Words have heard the song of Heaven, for
these are the words which all will merge as one
at last. And as this one will fade away,
the Word of God will come to take its place,
for It will be remembered then and loved.|
This world has many seeming separate haunts
where mercy has no meaning, and attack
appears as justified. Yet all are one;
a place where death is offered to God's Son
and to his Father. You may think They have
accepted, but if you will look again
upon the place where you beheld Their blood,
you will perceive a miracle instead.
How foolish to believe that They could die!
How foolish to believe you can attack!
How mad to think that you could be condemned,
and that the holy Son of God can die!|
The stillness of your Self remains unmoved,
untouched by thoughts like these, and unaware
of any condemnation which could need
forgiveness. Dreams of any kind are strange
and alien to the truth. Yet what but Truth
could have a Thought that builds a bridge to truth
which brings illusions to the other side?|
Today we practice letting freedom come
to make its home with you. The truth bestows
these words upon your mind, that you may find
the key to light, and let the darkness end:
"Only my condemnation injures me.
Only my own forgiveness sets me free."
Do not forget today that there can be
no form of suffering that fails to hide
an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be
a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal.|
Accept the one illusion which proclaims
there is no condemnation in God's Son,
and Heaven is remembered instantly;
the world forgotten, all its weird beliefs
forgotten with it, as the Face of Christ
appears unveiled at last in this one dream.
This is the gift the Holy Spirit holds
for you from God your Father. Let today
be celebrated both on earth and in
your holy home as well. Be kind to both,
as you forgive the trespasses you thought
them guilty of, and see your innocence
shining upon you from the Face of Christ.
Now is there silence all across the world.
Now is there stillness where before there was
a frantic rush of thoughts that made no sense.
Now is there tranquil light across the face
of earth made quiet in a dreamless sleep.
And now the Word of God alone remains
upon it. Only That can be perceived
an instant longer. Then are symbols done,
and everything you ever thought you made
completely vanished from the mind which God
forever knows to be His only Son.
There is no condemnation in him. He
is perfect in his holiness. He needs
no thoughts of mercy. Who could give him gifts
when everything is his? And who could dream
of offering forgiveness to the Son
of Sinlessness Itself, so like to Him
Whose Son he is, that to behold the Son
is to perceive no more, and only know
the Father? In this vision of the Son,
so brief that not an instant stands between
this single sight and timelessness itself,
you see the vision of yourself, and then
you disappear forever into God.
Today we come still nearer to the end
of everything that yet would stand between
this vision and our sight. And we are glad
that we have come this far, and recognize
that He Who brought us here will not forsake
us now. For He would give to us the gift
that God has given us through Him today.
Now is it time for your deliverance.
The time has come. The time has come today.