A Course in Miracles Lesson 191

I am the holy Son of God Himself.

A Course in Miracles is a course designed to teach us what we are in truth. It is the solution to an identity crisis so profound that it has literally distorted the cosmos and made what is capable only of Love into an enemy. We are lonely and scared; we cannot escape either guilt or death.

And we do not see – we do not understand in any way – that we are doing this to ourselves.

You do not see what you have done by giving to the world the role of jailer to the Son of God. What could it be but vicious and afraid, fearful of shadows, punitive and wild, lacking all reason, blind, insane with hate (W-pI.191.1:3-4).

Lesson 191 meets the crisis head-on. It is the answer.

You are as God created you. All else but this one thing is folly to believe. In this one thought is everyone set free. In this one truth are all illusions gone. In this one fact is sinlessness proclaimed to be a part of everything, the central core of its existence and its guarantee of immortality (W-pI.191.4:2-6).

Most of us, on reading that, will appreciate it. We will like the way it sounds. And, from time to time, we may even believe it.

But we will not accept as a truth beyond question. We trust gravity more than we trust God. Indeed, we trust our ability to confuse and destroy Creation more than we trust God.

There is another way.

That way begins with allowing our learning process to include the idea that we are the problem – that we are, in essence, our own worst enemy. We are not trying to fix or heal or amend anything but our own thinking. It is very important we not resist this. We are not in this particular classroom because we’re good at remembering our Creator, we’re not here because we need to heal others.

It is not a crime against God or nature to be a slow learner – thank Christ it is not – but we do need to see our resistance clearly.

We are here because lessons like this one confound us. We are here to learn – however slowly, however ineptly – that salvation is a gift we give to our selves and to the world.

We utter a simple prayer today.

I am the holy Son of God Himself. I cannot suffer, cannot be in pain; I cannot suffer loss, nor fail to do all that salvation asks (W-pI.191.7:3-4).

Please see that the lesson invites us to say the prayer; it does not obligate us to believe it. We show up and do the work; we leave the proof – we leave the accomplishment – to a power greater than our own selves.

This is enough, because it humbles us, and in our humility we will go forth willing to at least do no harm. We may not be heralds of Heaven but we can at least be brothers and sisters whose commitment to mercy allows us not to make things worse.

That combination – our willingness to perceive the suffering of the world, to consider our role in its existence, and our commitment to finding a power greater than our own selves to facilitate healing – is literally what makes us Christ.

Jesus speaks in the first person in this lesson.

. . . join with me today. Your glory is the light that saves the world . . . Look about the world, and see the suffering there. Is not your heart willing to bring your weary brothers rest (W-pI.191.10:4-5, 7-8).

Say yes today, if not for yourself then for me. Say it for your children, or your neighbor. Say it for whomever – or whatever – your heart opens wide enough to love without question or condition. That person (or dog or horse or poem or place or whatever) does exist in you – you do hold them that way – and in that relationship, in that unconditional extension of Love – you are Christ.

Accept this and, with Jesus and all the saviors of the world beside you, extend it to others as well. When we observe the miracle of blessing extending from our mind to encompass all of life we will remember at last that yes, we are in fact, the Holy Child of God.

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