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Lesson 191

I am the holy Son of God Himself.

1. Here is your declaration of release from bondage of the world. ²And here as well is all the world released. ³You do not see what you have done by giving to the world the role of jailer to the Son of God. ⁴What could it be but vicious and afraid, fearful of shadows, punitive and wild, lacking all reason, blind, insane with hate?

2. What have you done that this should be your world? ²What have you done that this is what you see? ³Deny your own Identity, and this is what remains. ⁴You look on chaos and proclaim it is yourself. ⁵There is no sight that fails to witness this to you. ⁶There is no sound that does not speak of frailty within you and without; no breath you draw that does not seem to bring you nearer death; no hope you hold but will dissolve in tears.

3. Deny your own Identity, and you will not escape the madness which induced this weird, unnatural and ghostly thought that mocks creation and that laughs at God. ²Deny your own Identity, and you assail the universe alone, without a friend, a tiny particle of dust against the legions of your enemies. ³Deny your own Identity, and look on evil, sin and death, and watch despair snatch from your fingers every scrap of hope, leaving you nothing but the wish to die.

4. Yet what is it except a game you play in which Identity can be denied? ²You are as God created you. ³All else but this one thing is folly to believe. ⁴In this one thought is everyone set free. ⁵In this one truth are all illusions gone. ⁶In this one fact is sinlessness proclaimed to be forever part of everything, the central core of its existence and its guarantee of immortality.

5. But let today’s idea find a place among your thoughts and you have risen far above the world, and all the worldly thoughts that hold it prisoner. ²And from this place of safety and escape you will return and set it free. ³For he who can accept his true Identity is truly saved. ⁴And his salvation is the gift he gives to everyone, in gratitude to Him Who pointed out the way to happiness that changed his whole perspective of the world.

6. One holy thought like this and you are free: You are the holy Son of God Himself. ²And with this holy thought you learn as well that you have freed the world. ³You have no need to use it cruelly, and then perceive this savage need in it. ⁴You set it free of your imprisonment. ⁵You will not see a devastating image of yourself walking the world in terror, with the world twisting in agony because your fears have laid the mark of death upon its heart.

7. Be glad today how very easily is hell undone. ²You need but tell yourself:

³I am the holy Son of God Himself. ⁴I cannot suffer, cannot be in pain; I cannot suffer loss, nor fail to do all that salvation asks.

⁵And in that thought is everything you look on wholly changed.

8. A miracle has lighted up all dark and ancient caverns, where the rites of death echoed since time began. ²For time has lost its hold upon the world. ³The Son of God has come in glory to redeem the lost, to save the helpless, and to give the world the gift of his forgiveness. ⁴Who could see the world as dark and sinful, when God’s Son has come again at last to set it free?

9. You who perceive yourself as weak and frail, with futile hopes and devastated dreams, born but to die, to weep and suffer pain, hear this: All power is given unto you in earth and Heaven. ²There is nothing that you cannot do. ³You play the game of death, of being helpless, pitifully tied to dissolution in a world which shows no mercy to you. ⁴Yet when you accord it mercy, will its mercy shine on you.

10. Then let the Son of God awaken from his sleep, and opening his holy eyes, return again to bless the world he made. ²In error it began, but it will end in the reflection of his holiness. ³And he will sleep no more and dream of death. ⁴Then join with me today. ⁵Your glory is the light that saves the world. ⁶Do not withhold salvation longer. ⁷Look about the world, and see the suffering there. ⁸Is not your heart willing to bring your weary brothers rest?

11. They must await your own release. ²They stay in chains till you are free. ³They cannot see the mercy of the world until you find it in yourself. ⁴They suffer pain until you have denied its hold on you. ⁵They die till you accept your own eternal life. ⁶You are the holy Son of God Himself. ⁷Remember this, and all the world is free. ⁸Remember this, and earth and Heaven are one.

(ACIM, W-191.1:1–11:8)

Posted in ACIM Lessons

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