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Lesson 64

Let me not forget my function.

1. Today’s idea is merely another way of saying “Let me not wander into temptation.” ²The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. ³It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. ⁴It is this the body’s eyes look upon.

2. Nothing the body’s eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. ²Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. ³To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. ⁴In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.

3. To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. ²It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this, and only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God Himself. ³The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all temptation. ⁴The Son of God is you.

4. Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. ²That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. ³There is no other way. ⁴Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy.

5. Let us remember this today. ²Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. ³Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. ⁴Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. ⁵Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? ⁶Let not the form of the decision deceive you. ⁷Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. ⁸It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. ⁹That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. ¹⁰Therefore it is the only choice there is.

6. Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts:

²Let me not forget my function.
³Let me not try to substitute mine for God’s.
⁴Let me forgive and be happy.

⁵At least once devote ten or fifteen minutes today to reflecting on this with closed eyes. ⁶Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world.

7. In the frequent applications of today’s idea throughout the day, devote several minutes to reviewing these thoughts, and then thinking about them and about nothing else. ²This will be difficult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires. ³You may need to repeat “Let me not forget my function” quite often to help you concentrate.

8. Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. ²At times, do the exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using. ³At other times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and then look slowly and unselectively around you, telling yourself:

⁴This is the world it is my function to save.

(ACIM, W-64.1:1–8:4)

Posted in ACIM Lessons

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