When you are anxious, realize that anxiety comes from the capriciousness of the ego, and know this need not be. ²You can be as vigilant against the ego’s dictates as for them.
5. When you feel guilty, remember that the ego has indeed violated the laws of God, but you have not. ²Leave the “sins” of the ego to me. ³That is what Atonement is for. ⁴But until you change your mind about those whom your ego has hurt, the Atonement cannot release you. ⁵While you feel guilty your ego is in command, because only the ego can experience guilt. ⁶This need not be.
6. Watch your mind for the temptations of the ego, and do not be deceived by it. ²It offers you nothing. ³When you have given up this voluntary dis-spiriting, you will see how your mind can focus and rise above fatigue and heal. ⁴Yet you are not sufficiently vigilant against the demands of the ego to disengage yourself. ⁵This need not be.
7. The habit of engaging with God and His creations is easily made if you actively refuse to let your mind slip away. ²The problem is not one of concentration; it is the belief that no one, including yourself, is worth consistent effort. ³Side with me consistently against this deception, and do not permit this shabby belief to pull you back. ⁴The disheartened are useless to themselves and to me, but only the ego can be disheartened.
8. Have you really considered how many opportunities you have had to gladden yourself, and how many of them you have refused? ²There is no limit to the power of a Son of God, but he can limit the expression of his power as much as he chooses. ³Your mind and mine can unite in shining your ego away, releasing the strength of God into everything you think and do. ⁴Do not settle for anything less than this, and refuse to accept anything but this as your goal. ⁵Watch your mind carefully for any beliefs that hinder its accomplishment, and step away from them. ⁶Judge how well you have done this by your own feelings, for this is the one right use of judgment. ⁷Judgment, like any other defense, can be used to attack or protect; to hurt or to heal. ⁸The ego should be brought to judgment and found wanting there. ⁹Without your own allegiance, protection and love, the ego cannot exist. ¹⁰Let it be judged truly and you must withdraw allegiance, protection and love from it.
9. You are a mirror of truth, in which God Himself shines in perfect light. ²To the ego’s dark glass you need but say, “I will not look there because I know these images are not true.” ³Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace, knowing that this and only this must be. ⁴His Mind shone on you in your creation and brought your mind into being. ⁵His Mind still shines on you and must shine through you. ⁶Your ego cannot prevent Him from shining on you, but it can prevent you from letting Him shine through you.
10. The First Coming of Christ is merely another name for the creation, for Christ is the Son of God. ²The Second Coming of Christ means nothing more than the end of the ego’s rule and the healing of the mind. ³I was created like you in the First, and I have called you to join with me in the Second. ⁴I am in charge of the Second Coming, and my judgment, which is used only for protection, cannot be wrong because it never attacks. ⁵Yours may be so distorted that you believe I was mistaken in choosing you. ⁶I assure you this is a mistake of your ego. ⁷Do not mistake it for humility. ⁸Your ego is trying to convince you that it is real and I am not, because if I am real, I am no more real than you are. ⁹That knowledge, and I assure you that it is knowledge, means that Christ has come into your mind and healed it.
11. I do not attack your ego. ²I do work with your higher mind, the home of the Holy Spirit, whether you are asleep or awake, just as your ego does with your lower mind, which is its home. ³I am your vigilance in this, because you are too confused to recognize your own hope. ⁴I am not mistaken. ⁵Your mind will elect to join with mine, and together we are invincible. ⁶You and your brother will yet come together in my name, and your sanity will be restored. ⁷I raised the dead by knowing that life is an eternal attribute of everything that the living God created. ⁸Why do you believe it is harder for me to inspire the dis-spirited or to stabilize the unstable? ⁹I do not believe that there is an order of difficulty in miracles; you do. ¹⁰I have called and you will answer. ¹¹I understand that miracles are natural, because they are expressions of love. ¹²My calling you is as natural as your answer, and as inevitable.