Lesson 67
Love created me like itself.
W-pI.67.1. Today’s idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. 2 This is why you are the light of the world. 3 This is why God appointed you as the world’s savior. 4 This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation. 5 He is saved by what you are. 6 We will make every effort today to reach this truth about you, and to realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth.
Now the other lessons make sense. Of course, all of what Jesus tells us is our function is possible because we are created by God like Himself. We are everything God is. We are indistinguishable from God. Another way Jesus expresses this amazing truth is that God gave all of Himself to us in our creation. We truly are the light of the world, the saviors of the Sonship. We will awaken ourselves and each other because of Who we are.
W-pI.67.2. In the longer practice period, we will think about your reality and its wholly unchanged and unchangeable nature. 2 We will begin by repeating this truth about you, and then spend a few minutes adding some relevant thoughts, such as:
3 Holiness created me holy.
4 Kindness created me kind.
5 Helpfulness created me helpful.
6 Perfection created me perfect.
7 Any attribute which is in accord with God as He defines Himself is appropriate for use. 8 We are trying today to undo your definition of God and replace it with His Own. 9 We are also trying to emphasize that you are part of His definition of Himself.
Because we have believed in the self that we made to take the place of our true Selves, we have also made God into something that is relatable to the little self. Because we are judgmental, we think of God as judgmental. Because we hate and fear, we think of God as hateful and fearful. Because we have made ourselves vengeful, we believe that God is vengeful, too. We have tried to make Him as small as we made ourselves. At least we used to, but hopefully not so much anymore. We were wrong on both counts and now we must undo what we have done. This is a good place to start. Let us think of all the attributes of God as He truly is and recognize they must be our attributes as well. We are part of God’s definition of Himself.
W-pI.67.3. After you have gone over several such related thoughts, try to let all thoughts drop away for a brief preparatory interval, and then try to reach past all your images and preconceptions about yourself to the truth in you. 2 If love created you like itself, this Self must be in you. 3 And somewhere in your mind It is there for you to find.
Who we are has not ceased to be simply because we dream of being someone different. We remain as God created us even while we hallucinate a self that is not like God. Our Self is in us, in our mind and we can reach that Self simply because we want to. We must shift our awareness from the dream to reality if we want to find that Self. We cannot know who we are if we are paying attention to the chatter in the mind because that chatter is not of God and we are. We don’t have to stop thinking the thoughts of ego, but we must choose to disregard them and sink below the chatter.
W-pI.67.4. You may find it necessary to repeat the idea for today from time to time to replace distracting thoughts. 2 You may also find that this is not sufficient, and that you need to continue adding other thoughts related to the truth about yourself. 3 Yet perhaps you will succeed in going past that, and through the interval of thoughtlessness to the awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as love created you. 4 Be confident that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether you feel you have succeeded or not.
When I read these words, “awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as love created you” I cry. It is such an astounding thought. I cry that it is true and cry that I don’t always see myself like this. What is it that I want more than to remember Who I am? It is very helpful that Jesus urges us to be confident. Maybe, probably, we will not experience ourselves as that blazing light today, but maybe we will. And even if we do not, we have succeeded in moving closer to that goal.
W-pI.67.5. It will be particularly helpful today to practice the idea for the day as often as you can. 2 You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible, because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images. 3 Four or five times an hour, and perhaps even more, it would be most beneficial to remind yourself that love created you like itself. 4 Hear the truth about yourself in this.
It can be easy to fall back into ego thinking and we mostly do that. But if we keep reminding ourselves of the truth, we will eventually stop being interested in the mind chatter. The mind chatters because we listen. All day, let us become interested in true thoughts about ourselves instead.
W-pI.67.6. Try to realize in the shorter practice periods that this is not your tiny, solitary voice that tells you this. 2 This is the Voice for God, reminding you of your Father and of your Self. 3 This is the Voice of truth, replacing everything that the ego tells you about yourself with the simple truth about the Son of God. 4 You were created by love like itself.
The ego resists this exercise. It says that clearly, we are lying to ourselves because the ego believes that it is you and the ego knows it is not kind and good and loving. It tells us that we are being arrogant to think like this, even blasphemous. But the ego lies. Actually, it is arrogant to think we are less than God created us. The ego-mind does not believe this but you are not the ego. You are as God created you, forever in His mind where He established you. That is the truth about you.