Twelve

The ultimate purpose of projection, as the ego uses it, is *always* to get rid of guilt. Yet, characteristically, the ego attempts to get rid of guilt from *its* viewpoint only, for much as the ego wants to retain guilt, *you* find it intolerable, since guilt stands in the way of your remembering God, Whose pull is so strong that you *cannot* resist it. On this issue, then, the deepest split of all occurs, for if you are to retain guilt as the ego insists, *you cannot be you*. Only by persuading you that *it* is you, could the ego possibly induce you to project guilt and thereby *keep* it in your mind. Yet consider how strange a solution the ego's arrangement is. You project guilt to get rid of it, but you are actually merely concealing it. You *do* experience guilt feelings, but you have no idea why. On the contrary, you associate them with a weird assortment of ego ideals which the ego claims you have failed. Yet you have no idea that you are failing the Son of God by seeing him as guilty. Believing you are no longer you, you do not realize that you are failing *yourself*.

The darkest of your hidden cornerstones holds your belief in guilt from your awareness. For in that dark and secret place is the realization that you have betrayed God's Son by condemning him to death. You do not even suspect this murderous but insane idea lies hidden there, for the ego's destructive urge is so intense that nothing short of the crucifixion of God's Son can ultimately satisfy it. It does not know who the Son of God is because it is blind. Yet let it perceive guiltlessness anywhere, and it will try to destroy it because it is afraid. Much of the ego's strange behavior is directly attributable to its definition of guilt. To the ego, *the guiltless are guilty*. Those who do not attack are its “enemies” because, by not valuing its interpretation of salvation, they are in an excellent position *to let it go*. They have approached the darkest and deepest cornerstone in the ego's foundation, and while the ego can withstand your raising all else to question, it guards this one secret with its life, for its existence *does* depend on keeping this secret. So it is this secret that we must look upon calmly, for the ego cannot protect you against truth, and in *its* presence the ego is dispelled. In the calm light of truth, let us recognize that you believe you *have* crucified God's Son. You have not admitted to this “terrible” secret because you *still* wish to crucify him if you could *find* him. Yet the wish has hidden him from you because it is very fearful, and you are *afraid* to find him. You have handled this wish to kill *yourself* by *not knowing* who you are and identifying with something *else*. You have projected guilt blindly and indiscriminately, but you have *not* uncovered its source. For the ego *does* want to kill you, and if you identify *with* it, you must believe *its* goal is *yours.* We once said that the crucifixion is the symbol of the ego. When it was confronted with the *real* guiltlessness of God's Son, it *did* attempt to kill him, and the reason it gave was that guiltlessness is blasphemous to God. To the ego *the ego* is god, and guiltlessness *must* be interpreted as the final guilt which fully justifies murder. You do not yet understand that all your fear of this course stems ultimately from this interpretation, but if you will consider your reactions to it, you will become increasingly convinced that this is so. This course has explicitly stated that its goal for you is happiness and peace. Yet you are *afraid* of it. You have been told again and again that it will make you free, yet you react as if it is trying to imprison you. Most of the time you dismiss it, but you do *not* dismiss the *ego's* thought system. You have *seen* its results and you *still* lack faith in it. You *must*, then, believe that by *not* learning the course, you are *protecting* yourself. And you do not realize that it is only your guiltlessness which *can* protect you. The Atonement has always been interpreted as the release from guilt, and this is correct if it is understood. Yet even when I have interpreted it *for* you, you have rejected it and have *not* accepted it for yourself. You have recognized the futility of the ego and its offerings, but though you do not want the ego, you do not look upon the alternative with gladness. You are *afraid* of redemption, and you believe it will kill you. Make no mistake about the depth of your fear. For you believe that in the presence of truth you will turn on yourself and destroy yourself. Little children, this is not so. Your “guilty secret” is nothing, and if you will but bring it to the light, the light will dispel it. And then no dark cloud will remain between you and the remembrance of your Father, for you will remember His guiltless Son, who did not die because he is immortal. And you will see that you were redeemed *with* him and have never been separated *from* him. In this understanding lies your remembering, for it is the recognition of love *without* fear. There will be great joy in Heaven on your homecoming, and the joy will be *yours*. For the redeemed son of man *is* the guiltless Son of God, and to recognize him *is* your redemption.

You may wonder why it is so crucial that you look upon your hatred and realize its full extent. You may also think that it would be easy enough for the Holy Spirit to show it to you and dispel it, *without* the need for you to raise it to awareness yourself. Yet there is one more complication which you have interposed between yourself and the Atonement, which you do not yet realize. We have said that no one will countenance fear if he *recognizes* it. Yet in your disordered state, you are *not* afraid of fear. You do not like it, but it is not your desire to attack which *really* frightens you. You are not seriously disturbed by your hostility. You keep it hidden because you are *more* afraid of what it covers. You could look even upon the ego's darkest cornerstone without fear if you did not believe that, *without* the ego, you would find within yourself something you fear even more. You are *not* afraid of crucifixion. Your real terror is of *redemption.* Under the ego's dark foundation is the memory of God, and it is of *this* that you are really afraid. For this memory would *instantly* restore you to your proper place, and it is this place that you have sought to *leave.* Your fear of attack is nothing compared to your fear of love. You would be willing to look even upon your savage wish to kill God's Son if you did not believe that it *saves* you from love. For this wish *caused* the separation. You have protected it because you do not *want* the separation healed, and you realize that, by *removing* the dark cloud that obscures it, your love for your Father would impel you to answer His call and leap into Heaven. You believe that attack is salvation to prevent you from *this.* For still deeper than the ego's foundation, and much stronger than it will ever be, is your intense and burning love of God, and His for you. This is what you *really* want to hide. In honesty, is it not harder for you to say “I love” than “I hate”? You associate love with weakness and hatred with strength, and your own *real* power seems to you as your real *weakness.* For you could not control your joyous response to the call of love if you heard it, and the whole world you think you control *would* vanish. The Holy Spirit, then, seems to be attacking your fortress, for you would shut out God, and He does not will to *be* excluded. You have built your whole insane belief system because you think you would be helpless in God's Presence, and you would *save* yourself from His Love because you think it would crush you into nothingness. You are afraid it would sweep you away from yourself and make you little. For you believe that magnitude lies in defiance and that attack is grandeur. You think you have made a world which God would destroy; and by loving Him, which you *do*, you would throw this world away, which you *would*. Therefore, you have used the world to *cover* your love, and the deeper you go into the blackness of the ego's foundation, the closer you come to the love that is hidden there. *And it is this that frightens you.* You can accept insanity because you made it, but you cannot accept love because you did *not*. You would rather be slaves of the crucifixion than Sons of God in redemption. For your *individual* death is more valued than your living oneness, and what is *given* you is not so dear as what *you* made. You are more afraid of God than of the ego, and love cannot enter where it is not welcome. But hatred can, for it enters of *its* will and cares not for yours. The reason you must look upon your delusions and not keep them hidden is that they do *not* rest on their own foundation. In concealment they appear to do so, and thus they *seem* to be self-sustained. This is the fundamental illusion on which they rest. For *beneath* them and concealed as long as *they* are hidden is the loving mind that *thought* it made them in anger. And the pain in this mind is so apparent when it is uncovered that its need of healing cannot *be* denied. Not all the tricks and games you offer it can heal it, for here is the *real* crucifixion of God's Son. And yet he is *not* crucified. Here is both his pain *and* his healing, for the Holy Spirit's vision is merciful, and His remedy is quick. Do not *hide* suffering from His sight, but bring it gladly to Him. Lay before His eternal sanity *all* your hurt, and *let* Him heal you. Do not leave any spot of pain hidden from His light, and search your minds carefully for any thoughts which you may fear to uncover. For He will heal every little thought which you have kept to hurt you and cleanse it of its littleness, restoring it to the magnitude of God. Beneath all your grandiosity, which you hold so dear, is your real call for help. For you call for love to your Father as your Father calls you to Himself. In that place which you have hidden, you will only to unite with the Father in loving remembrance of Him. You will find this place of truth as you see it in your brothers, for though they may deceive themselves, like you they long for the grandeur that is in them. And perceiving it you will welcome it, and it will be *yours*. For grandeur is the *right* of God's Son, and *no* illusions can satisfy him or save him from what he *is.* Only his love is real, and he will be content *only* with his reality. Save him from his illusions that you may accept the magnitude of your Father in peace and joy. But exempt no one from your love, or you will be hiding a dark place in your mind where the Holy Spirit is not welcome. And you will exempt *yourself* from His healing power, for by not offering total love, you will not be healed completely. Healing must be as complete as fear, for love cannot enter where there is one spot of fear to mar its welcome. You who prefer specialness to sanity could not obtain it in your right minds. You were at peace until you asked for special favor. And God did not give it, for the request was alien to Him, and you could not ask this of a Father Who truly loved His Son. Therefore you made of Him an unloving father, demanding of Him what only such a father could give. And the peace of God's Son was shattered, for he no longer understood his Father. He feared what he had made, but still more did he fear his *real* Father, having attacked his own glorious equality with Him. In peace he needed nothing and asked for nothing. In war he *demanded* everything and *found* nothing. For how could the gentleness of love respond to his demands *except* by departing in peace and returning to the Father? If the Son did not wish to remain in peace, he could not remain at all. For a darkened mind cannot live in the light, and it must seek a place of darkness where it can believe it is where it is not. God did not allow this to happen. Yet you *demanded* that it happen and therefore believed that it was so. To “single out” is to “make alone” and thus *make lonely*. God did not do this to you. Could He set you apart, *knowing* that your peace lies in His Oneness? He denied you only your request for pain, for suffering is not of His creation. Having *given* you creation, He could not take it *from* you. He could but answer your insane request with a sane answer which would abide with you in your insanity. \[And this He did. No one who hears His answer but will give up insanity.\] For His answer is the reference point *beyond* illusions from which you can look back on them and *see* them as insane. But seek *this* place, and you *will* find it, for love is in you and will lead you there.

And now the reason why you are afraid of this course should be apparent. For this is a course on love because it is about *you*. You have been told that your function in this world is healing, and your function in Heaven is creating. The ego teaches that your function on earth is destruction and that you have no function at all in Heaven. It would thus destroy you here and bury you here, leaving you no inheritance except the dust out of which it thinks you were made. As long as it is reasonably satisfied with you, as its reasoning goes, it offers you oblivion. When it becomes overtly savage, it offers you hell. Yet neither oblivion nor hell is as unacceptable to you as Heaven. For your definition of Heaven *is* hell and oblivion, and the *real* Heaven is the greatest threat you think you could experience. For hell and oblivion are ideas which *you* made up, and you are bent on demonstrating their reality to establish *yours*. If *their* reality is questioned, you believe that *yours* is. For you believe that *attack* is your reality and that your destruction is the final proof that you were *right*. Under the circumstances, would it not be more *desirable* to have been wrong, even apart from the fact that you *were* wrong? While it could perhaps be argued that death suggests there *was* life, no one would claim that it proves there *is* life. Even the past life which death might indicate could only have been futile if it must come to this and *needs* this to prove that it was. You question Heaven, but you do not question *this*. You could heal and be healed if you *did* question it. And even though you know not Heaven, might it not be more desirable than death? You have been as selective in your questioning as in your perception. An open mind is more honest than this. The ego has a very strange notion of time, and it is with this notion that your questioning might well begin. The ego invests heavily in the past and in the end believes that the past is the *only* aspect of time that is meaningful. You will remember that we said its emphasis on guilt enables it to ensure its continuity by making the future *like* the past and thus avoiding the present. By the notion of *paying* for the past in the future, the past becomes the *determiner* of the future, making them continuous *without* an intervening present. For the ego uses the present *only* as a brief transition to the future, in which it brings the past *to* the future by interpreting the present in *past* terms. *Now* has no meaning to the ego. The present merely reminds it of past hurts, and it reacts to the present as if it *were* the past. The ego cannot tolerate *release* from the past, and although the past is no more, the ego tries to preserve its image by responding *as if* it were present. Thus it dictates reactions to those you meet now from a *past* reference point, obscuring their present reality. In effect, if you follow the ego's dictates, you will react to your brothers as though they were someone *else*, and this will surely prevent you from perceiving them as they *are*. And you will receive messages from them out of your *own* past because, by making it real in the present, you are forbidding yourself to *let it go.* You thus deny yourself the message of release that every brother offers you *now*. The shadowy figures from the past are precisely what you must *escape*. For they are not real and have no hold over you unless you bring them *with* you. They carry the spots of pain in your minds, directing you to attack in the present in retaliation for a past that is no more. And this decision is one of *future* pain. Unless you learn that past pain is delusional, you are choosing a future of illusions and losing the endless opportunities which you could find for release in the present. The ego would *preserve* your nightmares and *prevent* you from awakening and understanding that they *are* past. Would you *recognize* a holy encounter if you are merely perceiving it as a meeting with your own past? For you are meeting no one, and the *sharing* of salvation, which *makes* the encounter holy, is excluded from your sight. The Holy Spirit teaches that you always meet *yourself* and the encounter is holy because *you* are. The ego teaches that you always encounter your past, and because your dreams *were* not holy, the future *cannot* be, and the present is without meaning. It is evident that the Holy Spirit's perception of time is the exact opposite of the ego's. The reason is equally clear, for they perceive the goal of time as diametrically opposed. The Holy Spirit interprets time's purpose as rendering the need for it unnecessary. Thus does He regard the function of time as temporary, serving only His teaching function, which is temporary by definition. *His* emphasis is therefore on the only aspect of time which *can* extend to the infinite, for *now* is the closest approximation of eternity which this world offers. It is in the *reality* of now, without past *or* future, that the beginning of the appreciation of eternity lies. For only now is *here*, and *it* presents the opportunities for the holy encounters in which salvation can be found. The ego, on the other hand, regards the function of time as one of extending itself *in place* of eternity, for like the Holy Spirit, the ego interprets the goal of time as its own. The continuity of past and future under *its* direction is the only purpose the ego perceives in time, and it closes over the present so that no gap in its *own* continuity can occur. *Its* continuity, then, would *keep* you in time, while the Holy Spirit would release you *from* it. It is *His* interpretation of the means of salvation which you must learn to accept if you would share His goal of salvation for you. You too will interpret the function of time as you interpret yours. If you accept your function in the world of time as healing, you will emphasize *only* the aspect of time in which healing can occur. For healing *cannot* be accomplished in the past and *must* be accomplished in the present to release the *future.* This interpretation ties the future to the *present* and extends the present rather than the past. But if you interpret your function as destruction, you will lose sight of the present and hold on to the past to *ensure* a destructive future. And time *will* be as you interpret it, for of itself it is *nothing*.

We have said that you have but two emotions, love and fear. One is changeless but continually exchanged, being offered *by* the eternal *to* the eternal. In this exchange it is extended, for it *increases* as it is given. The other has many forms, for the content of individual illusions differs greatly. Yet they have one thing in common—they are all insane. They are made of sights which are *not* seen and sounds which are *not* heard. They make up a private world which *cannot* be shared. For they are meaningful *only* to their maker, and so they have no meaning at all. In this world their maker moves alone, for only he perceives them. Each one peoples his world with figures from his individual past, and it is because of this that private worlds *do* differ. Yet the figures that he sees were *never* real, for they are made up only of *his* reactions to his brothers and do not include their reactions to *him*. Therefore he does not *see* that he made them and that they are not whole. For these figures have no witnesses, being perceived in one separate mind only. It is *through* these strange and shadowy figures that the insane relate to their insane world. For they see *only* those who remind them of these images, and it is to *them* that they relate. Thus do they communicate with those who are not there, and it is *they* who answer them, and no one hears their answer save him who called upon them, and he alone believes they answered him. Projection makes perception, and you *cannot* see beyond it. Again and again have men attacked each other because they saw in them a shadow figure in their *own* private world. And thus it is that you *must* attack yourself first, for what you attack is *not* in others. Its only reality is in your *own* mind, and by attacking others, you are literally attacking what is *not there.* The delusional can be very destructive, for they do not recognize that they have condemned *themselves*. They do not wish to die, yet they will not let condemnation *go.* And so they separate into their private worlds, where everything is disordered and where what is within appears to be without. Yet what *is* within they do not see, for the *reality* of their brothers they *cannot* see. You have but two emotions, yet in your private world you react to each of them as though it were the *other*. For love cannot abide in a world apart, where when it comes it is not recognized. If you see your own hatred *as* your brother, you are not seeing *him.* Everyone draws nigh unto what he loves and recoils from what he fears. And you react with fear to love and draw away from it. Yet fear *attracts* you, and believing it *is* love, you call it to yourself. Your private world is filled with the figures of fear you have invited into it, and all the love your brothers offer you, *you do not see*. As you look with open eyes upon your world, it *must* occur to you that you have withdrawn into insanity. You see what is not there, and you hear what is soundless. Your behavioral manifestations of emotions are the *opposite* of what the emotions are. You communicate with no one, and you are as isolated from reality as if you were alone in all the universe. In your madness, you overlook reality *completely*, and you see only your *own* split mind everywhere you look. God calls you and you do not hear, for you are preoccupied with your own voice. And the vision of Christ is not in your sight, for you look upon yourself *alone*. Little children, would you offer *this* to your Father? For if you offer it to yourself, you *are* offering it to Him. And He will *not* return it, for it is unworthy of you because it is unworthy of Him. Yet He *would* release you from it and set you free. His sane answer tells you that what you have offered yourself is not true, but *His* offering to you has never changed. You who know not what you do *can* learn what insanity is and look beyond it. It is given you to learn how to *deny* insanity and come forth from your private world in peace. You will see all that you denied in your brothers *because* you denied it in yourself. For you will love them, and by drawing nigh unto them, you will draw them to yourself, perceiving them as witnesses to your reality, which you share with God. I am with *them* as I am with *you*, and we will draw them from their private worlds, for as we are united, so would we unite with them. The Father welcomes all of us in gladness, and gladness is what *we* should offer *Him*. For every Son of God is given you to whom God gave *Himself.* And it is God to Whom you must offer them to recognize His gift to *you*. Vision depends on light, and you cannot see in darkness. Yet in the darkness in the private world of sleep, you *see* in dreams, although your eyes are closed. And it is here that what you see you *made.* But let the darkness go, and all you made you will no longer see, for sight of it depends upon *denying* vision. Yet from denying vision, it does not follow that you *cannot* see. But this is what denial *does*, for by it you *accept* insanity, believing you can make a private world and rule your *own* perceptions. Yet for this, light *must* be excluded. Dreams disappear when light has come and you can *see*. Do not seek vision through *your* eyes, for you *made* your way of seeing that you might see in darkness, and in this you are deceived. *Beyond* this darkness and yet still *within* you is the vision of Christ, Who looks on all in light. Your vision comes from fear, as His from love. And He sees *for* you as your witness to the real world. He is the Holy Spirit's manifestation, looking always on the real world and calling forth its witnesses and drawing them *unto* you. For He loves what He sees within you, and He would *extend* it. And He will not return unto the Father until He has extended your perception even unto Him. And there perception is no more, for He has returned you to the Father with Him. You have but two emotions, and one you made and one was given you. Each is a *way of seeing*, and different worlds arise from their different visions. See through the vision that is given you, for through Christ's vision He beholds Himself. And seeing what He is, He knows His Father. Beyond your darkest dreams, He sees God's guiltless Son within you, shining in perfect radiance, which is undimmed by your dreams. And this *you* will see as you look with Him, for His vision is His gift of love to you, given Him of the Father *for* you. The Holy Spirit is the light in which Christ stands revealed. And all who would behold Him can see Him, for they have *asked* for light. Nor will they see Him *alone*, for He is no more alone than they are. Because they saw the Son, they have risen in Him to the Father. And all this will they understand because they looked within and saw beyond the darkness the Christ in them and *recognized* Him. In the sanity of His vision, they looked upon themselves with love, seeing themselves as the Holy Spirit sees them. And *with* this vision of the truth in them came all the beauty of the world to shine upon them.

To perceive truly is to be aware of *all* reality through the awareness of your own. But for this *no* illusions can rise to meet your sight, for *all* reality leaves no room for *any* error. This means that you perceive a brother only as you see him *now*. His past has *no* reality in the present, and you *cannot* see it. *Your* past reactions to him are *also* not there, and if it is to them that you react *now*, you see but an image of him which you made and cherish *instead* of him. In your questioning of illusions, ask yourself if it is *really* sane to perceive what *was now.* If you remember the past as you look upon your brother, you will be unable to perceive the reality that is *now*. You consider it “natural” to use your past experience as the reference point from which to *judge* the present. Yet this is *unnatural* because it is delusional. When you have learned to look upon everyone with *no reference at all* to the past, either his or yours as you perceived it, you will be able to learn from what you see *now*. For the past can cast no shadow to darken the present *unless you are afraid* *of light.* And only if you are would you choose to bring this darkness *with* you, and by holding it in your minds, see it as a dark cloud that shrouds your brothers and conceals their reality from your sight. *This darkness is in you*. The Christ revealed to you *now* has no past, for He is changeless, and in *His* changelessness lies *your* release. For if He is as He was created, there is no guilt in Him. No cloud of guilt has risen to obscure Him, and He stands revealed in everyone you meet because you see Him through *Himself*. To be born again is to *let the past go* and look without condemnation upon the present. For the cloud which obscures God's Son to you *is* the past, and if you would have it past *and gone*, you must not see it *now*. If you see it now in your delusions, it has *not* gone from you, although it is not there. Time can release as well as imprison, depending on whose interpretation of it you use. Past, present, and future are not continuous unless you *force* continuity on them. You can *perceive* them as continuous and make them so for *you.* But do not be deceived and then believe that this is how it *is*, for to believe that reality is what you would *have* it be according to your use for it *is* delusional. You would destroy time's continuity by breaking it into past, present, and future *for your own purposes*. You would anticipate the future on the basis of your past experience and plan for it accordingly. Yet by doing so, you are *aligning* past and future and not allowing the miracle, which could intervene *between* them, to free you to be born again. The miracle enables you to see your brother *without* his past and so perceive *him* as born again. His errors *are* all past, and by perceiving him without them, you are *releasing* him. And since his past is *yours*, you *share* in this release. Let no dark cloud out of *your* past obscure him from you, for truth lies *only* in the present, and you will find it if you seek it there. You have looked for it where it is *not* and therefore have not found it. Learn, then, to seek it where it *is*, and it will dawn on eyes that see. Your past was made in anger, and if you use it to attack the present, you will not *see* the freedom that the present holds. Judgment and condemnation are *behind* you, and unless you bring them *with* you, you will see that you *are* free of them. Look lovingly upon the present, for it holds the *only* things that are forever true. All healing lies within it because *its* continuity is real. It extends to all aspects of consciousness *at the same time* and thus enables them to reach *each other.* The present is before time was and will be when time is no more. In it is everything that is eternal, and they are one. Their continuity is timeless, and their communication is unbroken, for they are not separated by the past. Only the past *can* separate, and *it* is nowhere. The present offers you your brothers in the light that would unite you with them and free you *from* the past. Would you, then, hold the past *against* them? For if you do, you are choosing to remain in the darkness that is not there and refusing to accept the light that is offered you. For the light of perfect vision is freely given as it is freely received and can be accepted only *without limit*. In this one still dimension of time, which does not change and where there is no sight of what you were, you look at Christ and call His witnesses to shine on you *because you called them forth*. And *they* will not deny the truth in you because you looked for it in them and *found* it there. Now is the time of salvation, for now is the *release* from time. Reach out to all your brothers and touch them with the touch of Christ. In timeless union with them is *your* continuity, unbroken because it is wholly shared. God's guiltless Son is *only* light. There is no darkness in him anywhere, for he is whole. Call all your brothers to witness to his wholeness, as I am calling you to join with me. Every voice has a part in the song of redemption, the hymn of gladness and thanksgiving for the light to the Creator of light. The holy light that shines forth from God's Son is the witness that his light is of his Father. Shine on your brothers in remembrance of your Creator, for you will remember Him as you call forth the witnesses to His creation. Those whom you heal bear witness to *your* healing, for in their wholeness you will see your own. And as your hymns of praise and gladness rise to your Creator, He will return your thanks in His clear answer to your call. For it can never be that His Son called upon Him and remained unanswered. His call to you is but your call to Him. And *in* Him you are answered by His peace. Children of light, you know not that the light is in you. Yet you will find it through its witnesses, for having *given* light to them, they will *return* it. Everyone you see in light brings *your* light closer to your *own* awareness. Love always leads to love. The sick who ask for love are grateful for it, and in their joy, they shine with holy thanks. And this they offer you, who *gave* them joy. They are your guides to joy, for having received it of you, they would keep it. You have established them as guides to peace, for you have made it manifest in them. And *seeing* it, its beauty calls *you* home. There is a light which this world cannot give. Yet *you* can give it, as it was given you. And as you give it, it shines forth to call you from the world and follow it. For this light will attract you as nothing in this world can do. And you will lay aside the world and find another. This other world is bright with love, which *you* have given it. And here will everything remind you of your Father and His Holy Son. Light is unlimited and spreads across this world in quiet joy. All those you brought with you will shine on you, and you will shine on them in gratitude because they brought you here. Your light will join with theirs in power so compelling that it will draw the others out of darkness as you look on them. Awakening unto Christ is following the laws of love of your free will and out of quiet recognition of the truth in them. The attraction of light must draw you willingly, and willingness is signified by *giving.* Those who accept love of you become your willing witnesses to the love you gave them, and it is *they* who hold it out to *you*. In sleep you are alone, and your awareness is narrowed to yourself. And that is why the nightmares come. You dream of isolation *because* your eyes are closed. You do not *see* your brothers, and in the darkness you cannot look upon the light you gave to them. And yet the laws of love are not suspended because you sleep. And you have followed them through all your nightmares and have been faithful in your giving, for you were *not* alone. Even in sleep has Christ protected you, ensuring the real world for you when you wake. In *your* name He has given *for* you and given *you* the gifts He gave. God's Son is still as loving as his Father. Continuous *with* his Father, he has no past apart from Him. So he has never ceased to be his Father's witness *and his own*. Although he slept, Christ's vision did not leave him. And so it is that he can call unto himself the witnesses that teach him that he never slept.

Sit quietly and look upon the world you see, and tell yourself, *The real world is not like this. It has no buildings, and there are no streets where people walk alone and separate. There are no stores where people buy an endless list of things they do not need. It is not lit with artificial light, and night comes not upon it. There is no day that brightens and grows dim. There is no loss. Nothing is there but shines, and shines forever.* The world *you* see must be *denied*, for sight of it is costing you a different kind of vision. *You cannot see both worlds*, for each of them involves a different kind of seeing and depends on what you cherish. The sight of one is possible *because* you have denied the other. Both are not true, yet either one will seem as real to you as the amount to which you hold it dear. And yet their power is *not* the same because their real attraction to you is unequal. You do not really want the world you see, for it has disappointed you since time began. The homes you built have never sheltered you. The roads you made have led you nowhere, and no city that you built has withstood the crumbling assault of time. Nothing you made but has the mark of death upon it. Hold it not dear, for it is old and tired and ready to return to dust even as you made it. This aching world has not the power to touch the living world at all. You could not give it that, and so although you turn in sadness from it, you cannot find in *it* the road that leads away from it into another world. Yet the real world has the power to touch you even here *because you love it.* And what you call with love *will* come to you. Love *always* answers, being unable to deny a call for help or not to hear the cries of pain that rise to it from every part of this strange world you made but do not want. The only effort you need make to give this world away in glad exchange for what you did not make is willingness to learn *the one you made is false.* You *have* been wrong about the world because you have misjudged *yourself*. From such a twisted reference point what *could* you see? All vision starts *with the perceiver* who judges what is true and what is false. And what he judges false *he does not see.* You who would judge reality *cannot* see it, for whenever judgment enters, reality has slipped away. The out of mind is out of sight because what is denied is there but is not *recognized*. Christ is still there, although you know Him not. His Being does not depend upon your recognition. He lives within you in the quiet present and waits for you to leave the past behind and enter into the world He holds out to you in love. No one in this distracted world but has seen some glimpses of the other world about him. Yet while he still lays value on his own, he will *deny* the vision of the other world, maintaining that he loves what he loves not and following not the road that love points out. Love leads so gladly! And as you follow Him, you will rejoice that you have found His company and learned of Him the joyful journey home. You wait but for *yourself.* To give this sad world over and exchange your errors for the peace of God is but *your* will. And Christ will *always* offer you the Will of God in recognition that you share it with Him. It is God's Will that nothing touch His Son except Himself, and nothing else comes nigh unto him. He is as safe from pain as God Himself, Who watches over him in everything. The world about him shines with love because God placed him in Himself where pain is not and love surrounds him without end or flaw. Disturbance of his peace can never be. In perfect sanity he looks on love, for it is all about him and within him. He *must* deny the world of pain the instant he perceives the arms of love around him. And from this point of safety, he looks quietly about him and recognizes that the world is one with him. The peace of God passeth your understanding *only* in the past. Yet here it *is*, and you can understand it *now*. God loves His Son forever, and His Son *returns* his Father's love forever. The real world is the way that leads you to remembrance of this one thing that is wholly true and wholly *yours*. For all else you have lent yourself in time, and it will fade. But this one thing is *always* yours, being the gift of God unto His Son. Your *one* reality was given you, and by it God created you as one with Him. You will first dream of peace and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love. In these lie your true perceptions, for the Holy Spirit corrects the world of dreams, where *all* perception is. Knowledge needs no correction. Yet the dreams of love lead *unto* knowledge. In them you see nothing fearful, and because of this, they are the welcome that you *offer* knowledge. Love waits on welcome, *not* on time, and the real world is but your welcome of what always was. Therefore, the call of joy is in it, and your glad response is your awakening to what you have not lost. Praise, then, the Father for the perfect sanity of His most holy Son. Your Father knoweth that you have need of nothing. In Heaven this is so, for what could you need in eternity? In *your* world you *do* need things because it is a world of scarcity in which you find yourself *because* you are lacking. Yet *can* you find yourself in such a world? Without the Holy Spirit, the answer would be no. Yet because of Him, the answer is a joyous *yes*! As Mediator between the two worlds, He knows what you have need of and what will not hurt you. Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you. The ego wants to *have* things for salvation, for possession is its law. Possession for its *own* sake is the ego's fundamental creed, a basic cornerstone in the churches that it builds unto itself. And at *its* altar it demands you lay *all* of the things it bids you get, leaving you no joy in them. Everything that the ego tells you that you need will hurt you. For although the ego urges you again and again to *get*, it leaves you nothing, for what you get, it will *demand* of you. And even from the very hands that grasped it, it will be wrenched and hurled into the dust. For where the ego sees salvation, it sees *separation*, and so you lose whatever you have gotten in its name. Therefore ask not of yourselves what you need, for *you do not know* and your advice unto yourself *will* hurt you. For what you think you need will merely serve to tighten up your world *against* the light and render you unwilling to question the value that this world can really hold for you. Only the Holy Spirit *knows* what you need. For He will give you all things that do not block the way to light. And what else *could* you need? In time He gives you all the things that you need have and will renew them as long as you have need of them. He will take nothing from you as long as you have *any* need of it. And yet He knows that everything you need is temporary and will but last until you step aside from *all* your needs and learn that all of them *have been* fulfilled. Therefore He has no investment in the things that He supplies except to make certain that you will not use them on behalf of lingering in time. He knows that you are not at home there, and He wills no delay to wait upon your joyous homecoming. Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them. What comes to you of Him comes safely, for He will ensure it never can become a dark spot, hidden in your mind and kept to hurt you. Under His guidance, you will travel light and journey lightly, for His sight is ever on the journey's end which is His goal. God's Son is not a traveler through *outer* worlds. However holy his perception may become, no world outside himself holds his inheritance. Within himself he *has* no needs, for light needs nothing but to shine in peace and from itself to let the rays extend in quiet to infinity. Whenever you are tempted to undertake a foolish journey that would lead *away* from light, remember what you really want and say, *The Holy Spirit leads me unto Christ, and where else would I go? What need have I but to awake in Him?* Then follow Him in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through all dangers to your peace of mind that this world sets before you. Kneel not before the altars to sacrifice and seek not what you will surely lose. Content yourselves with what you will as surely *keep* and be not restless, for you undertake a quiet journey to the peace of God, where He would have you be in quietness. In me you have already overcome *every* temptation that would hold you back. We walk together on the way to quietness that is the gift of God. Hold me dear, for what except your brothers *can* you need? We will restore to you the peace of mind that we must find *together.* The Holy Spirit will teach you to awaken unto us and to yourself. This is the only *real* need to be fulfilled in time. Salvation *from* the world lies only here. My peace I *give* you. *Take* it of me in glad exchange for all the world has offered but to take away. And we will spread it like a veil of light across the world's sad face, in which we hide our brothers *from* the world, and it from them. We cannot sing redemption's hymn alone. My task is not completed until I have lifted every voice with mine. And yet it is *not* mine, for as it is my gift to you, so was it the Father's gift to me, given me through His Spirit. The sound of it will banish sorrow from the Mind of God's most holy Son, where it cannot abide. Healing in time *is* needed, for joy cannot establish its eternal reign where sorrow dwells. You dwell not here, but in eternity. You travel but in dreams while safe at home. Give thanks to every part of you that you have taught how to *remember* you. Thus does the Son of God give thanks unto his Father for his purity.