Lesson 64
Let me not forget my function.
W-pI.64.1. Today’s idea is merely another way of saying “Let me not wander into temptation.” 2 The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. 3 It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. 4 It is this the body’s eyes look upon.
Our ultimate goal is to abandon the idea of trying to imprison the Son of God in a body. What we are is everything and everywhere and we are immortal. What a strange choice we make each time we find ourselves here pretending to be human. Our way out of this cycle of birth and death is to use the body for a different purpose, one that will free us from the illusions we have made.
W-pI.64.2. 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. 2 Yet 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. 3 To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. 4 In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.
We made the world as a place where everything is the opposite of reality. Here life can die, the invulnerable can suffer, and the perfect can sin and be condemned. But there is a way out; we can forgive ourselves our ‘sins’ and in doing so, we free undo all we made. As humans, everywhere we look is temptation. Yesterday, while at the dealership, I was tempted to see myself unfairly treated and the dealership guilty of trying to cheat me.
This is a very common type of temptation and the ego-mind accepts it as true and points to the proof. I didn’t have to accept that perception of the situation because I have learned to see the world differently. I have learned to translate condemnation into an opportunity for salvation. I released those knee-jerk reactions to the Holy Spirit and accepted His correction. I was able to forgive myself for my attack thoughts and forgive the dealership for whatever I thought they were doing to me and rest my mind in God. What started out as a way to keep us all in hell, quickly became a way to forgive and save us all.
W-pI.64.3. To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. 2 It 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. 3 The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all temptation. 4 The Son of God is you.
I am the Son of God, along with you. We chose this experience of being human and it is up to us to make a different choice. The part of the mind we use to have this experience will fight against losing it. But every one of us will awaken and when that time comes, we will have all that we need to do so. Though we can delay this, nothing can stop it. I know that it seems odd to think of ourselves as the Son of God when we also see ourselves as angry or hateful, fearful and guilty. But that is not who we are. That is the ego, and we can learn to release that identity and remember our true Self.
W-pI.64.4. Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. 2 That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. 3 There is no other way. 4 Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy.
Jesus is really emphasizing the fact that happiness and forgiveness go hand in hand. It is up to us if we want to be happy, but we must meet the condition of happiness in order to feel it. We cannot be happy if we are choosing to live as egos believing the ego is who we are. We cannot be happy if we hold grievances, attack and defend, and project guilt. We will absolutely be happy if we allow this kind of thinking to be undone for us by the Holy Spirit.
W-pI.64.5. Let us remember this today. 2 Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. 3 Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. 4 Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. 5 Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? 6 Let not the form of the decision deceive you. 7 Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. 8 It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. 9 That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. 10 Therefore it is the only choice there is.
I noticed a couple of times today that I was having judgmental thoughts. As soon as I became aware of that, I thanked the Holy Spirit for helping me notice. Then I released those judgments to Him because I to hold onto judgment is just crazy. I cannot be happy if I choose to judge and I want to be happy.
W-pI.64.6. Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts:
2 Let me not forget my function.
3 Let me not try to substitute mine for God’s.
4 Let me forgive and be happy.
5 At least once devote ten or fifteen minutes today to reflecting on this with closed eyes. 6 Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world.
W-pI.64.7. 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. 2 This will be difficult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires. 3 You may need to repeat “Let me not forget my function” quite often to help you concentrate.
W-pI.64.8. Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. 2 At times, do the exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using. 3 At other times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and then look slowly and unselectively around you, telling yourself:
4 This is the world it is my function to save.
May I never forget my function. I will do my part in the salvation of the world as I accept the Atonement for myself.