Lesson 70 ~ My salvation comes from me.

Salvation seems to come from anywhere except me. When I realize that all my problems are entirely an invention of my mind, I will also realize that my salvation is in my mind.

The guilt I experience in the world of illusion comes from my seeming separation from my Father.  It appears that I am not good enough, smart enough, I do not come from the right family or make the right amount of income.  Maybe I do not have as big a house as my neighbor, or drive as nice of a car.  I am not tall enough or as beautiful as I could be.  I have a bad temper, or not enough patience.  I get upset with other drivers on the road.  I was not voted Homecoming queen.  I am the one in the family who always screws up.

The true ORIGIN of my guilt, problems, judgments, hatred, sadness and fear is that I seemed to have separated myself from my Source.   As a result I "see" illusion.

What is the cost of accepting today's idea?  Only this:  I must understand that nothing outside of me can save me and nothing outside of me can bring me Peace.  It also means that nothing outside of me can hurt me, disturb my Peace or upset me in any way.  Today's idea firmly places ME in charge of the "universe."  I accept this idea entirely or not at all.  I must accept responsibility for my salvation.

Because of the Perfection of Reality, I cannot separate myself from God, though I can think and fantasize about it, it can never be Reality.  I am Safe in Heaven, dreaming of exile to a world "apart from" God.  This "world" is all in my mind. So is my salvation. The Source of healing is located where the need for healing lies.

In fantasizing about a world apart from God, everything I experience is an experience "apart from" God. In God is Peace. In the world is war and chaos. In God is Life. In the world all life ends in death. In God is Wholeness and Healing; in the world is separation and sickness. The world of illusion is performing the function that I gave it: 'show me a world apart from God.'  I created each scenario with such detail and intricacy, with the Power of Creation that only the Son could have. Yet because it is a fantasy, it is not Real, yet I am fully immersed in my dream-world.

Can I not just wake up?  Of course I could.  Yet, over and over, my choice is to see a world without God.  When I choose fear over Love, judgment over Acceptance, worry over Peace and death over Life, I choose to "see" apart from God.

Speaking in the language of illusion, part of me is lost in the dream, dreaming a dream, by my own choice, which makes me very unhappy, worried, anxious, fearful, sad, upset. Yet there is another part of me that remembers my Reality with God; that is the part God works with to help me choose differently to remember my way Home.

I place a dream of "aloneness" before me.  How is that working for me?

It is time to choose differently. Today I choose to make no decisions or choices by "myself." Because it makes God angry? No. Because it is impossible. The impossibility of being alone is what I choose to experience:  I am in this body, you are in another body;  I am over here, you are over there.  Yet this is impossible!  There is no separation between God and His Son.  But that I can dream about it is undeniable. Alone I can do nothing. My experience in the world of illusion is an experience of myself, alone and without God.  But I can never be alone and without God. Today I choose to remember.

Just as the world is in my mind, so is my healing.  Today I practice realizing that God's Will and mine are One.  God wants me to be healed, and I do not really want to be sick, alone, frightened, or fearful because it makes me unhappy.  By accepting the idea for today, I am placing my mind in agreement with God. He does not want me to be apart from Him. Neither do I. He wants me to be healed and Whole. So do I.

For 10 to 15 minutes twice today begin by repeating today's idea recognizing that my salvation comes from me because it cannot come from anywhere else; there is nothing outside me. Then, perhaps with eyes closed, review the places where I have looked for salvation in the past; in other people, possessions, situations and events, and in the self-concepts I desired to make Real.  Then recognize that my salvation cannot come from any of these things; it comes from me and only me.  God does not save me from this world, because the world does not exist.  God battles no one and nothing, because He Is and has Everything. I created the world of dreams and only I can choose differently.  God patiently awaits my choice for Happiness.  I can choose dreams and shiny trinkets that seem to be outside me, over and over, until I am ready to choose differently.

I will try to reach the Light in me today; I cannot find It in the dream that surrounds me, and in the dream is where I have been looking.  I have never found anything in the dream that has fully and completely satisfied me.  Since all illusions have failed me, do I really want to choose more illusions when I could so easily walk into the Light?

In my mind imagine the world of illusions as clouds.  I will try to pass the clouds in whatever means appeals to me.  If it helps, think of God or Jesus (who represents the Sonship in the dream-world) holding my hand and leading me.  This will be no idle fantasy.

Salvation comes from me, and nothing but my own thoughts can slow my progress.  I am free from all external interference.  I am in charge of my salvation.  It is my choice. In saving my "self," I save the "world.".

"My salvation comes from ME."