Lesson 75
The light has come.
W-pI.75.1. The light has come. 2 You are healed and you can heal. 3 The light has come. 4 You are saved and you can save. 5 You are at peace, and you bring peace with you wherever you go. 6 Darkness and turmoil and death have disappeared. 7 The light has come.
This is what we have been building toward with the last few of these lessons. Jesus has talked about salvation and about moving into the light that is within us. Today, the light has come. Today we surrender to this light and we are healed and we heal. We are saved and we save. We are at peace and we bring peace. Darkness is gone and there is light.
I can honestly say that this is true for me most of the time. I still have some very few ego thoughts that I am tempted to accept from time to time, but mostly, I am at peace and I bring that peace with me wherever I go. I am healed of most ego ideas and I can heal as I open myself to the Holy Spirit and allow healing to flow through me. I am not healed of all ego thinking because my body still gets sick. I am willing, though, to receive all the gifts that Jesus says are mine.
Darkness and turmoil have disappeared, though I have not, as far as I know, overcome death. I’m not even sure what he means by that. I have overcome the fear of death and the longing for death. I know that death does not bring happiness or solve any problems. I know that death is just the death of an illusion, that death is not real and does not affect me, it affects only this body. That is all I know about death at this time.
W-pI.75.2. Today we celebrate the happy ending to your long dream of disaster. 2 There are no dark dreams now. 3 The light has come. 4 Today the time of light begins for you and everyone. 5 It is a new era, in which a new world is born. 6 The old one has left no trace upon it in its passing. 7 Today we see a different world, because the light has come.
Oh, I do want this for myself and for everyone. Jesus says that we can have it, and I believe him. However, I know that not everyone is ready for this. Evidently, I am not ready, either, because I am aware of ego beliefs that still tempt me. But I am willing to release them. I do stay vigilant and I do invite healing each time I notice the need. And for a while this morning, I am ready and willing, and who knows, maybe this will persist and I will be completely free.
W-pI.75.3. Our exercises for today will be happy ones, in which we offer thanks for the passing of the old and the beginning of the new. 2 No shadows from the past remain to darken our sight and hide the world forgiveness offers us. 3 Today we will accept the new world as what we want to see. 4 We will be given what we desire. 5 We will to see the light; the light has come.
Yes, today I will accept the new world as what I want to see. I desire this above all else. I wonder if some shadows will come to darken my sight or will I stay true to my dearest desire? Jesus says that we will be given what we desire and I know I desire the happy dream, the real world. If it turns out there is something from the ego mind that I also desire, I will see this as the opportunity to change my mind.
W-pI.75.4. Our longer practice periods will be devoted to looking at the world that our forgiveness shows us. 2 This is what we want to see, and only this. 3 Our single purpose makes our goal inevitable. 4 Today the real world rises before us in gladness, to be seen at last. 5 Sight is given us, now that the light has come.
This is where having a single purpose, a single goal is so helpful. My goal has been the peace of God. It is my only goal. I hold each thought up to that goal to see if the thought brings me closer to the peace of God, or if it takes me further from it. If it doesn’t bring me the peace of God, I know I am not interested in keeping it and so I give it to the Holy Spirit for correction. I can do this over and over again and do it patiently because I know the outcome is certain. It is inevitable.
W-pI.75.5. We do not want to see the ego’s shadow on the world today. 2 We see the light, and in it we see Heaven’s reflection lie across the world. 3 Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself the glad tidings of your release:
4 The light has come. 5 I have forgiven the world.
Today, my goal takes the form of seeing the light. I want nothing in my mind that is not light. I want nothing in my mind that is unforgiven. Anything that I think or feel that is not in line with my goal, is something I give to the Holy Spirit for correction. I want no ego shadow to darken my mind.
W-pI.75.6. Dwell not upon the past today. 2 Keep a completely open mind, washed of all past ideas and clean of every concept you have made. 3 You have forgiven the world today. 4 You can look upon it now as if you never saw it before. 5 You do not know yet what it looks like. 6 You merely wait to have it shown to you. 7 While you wait, repeat several times, slowly and in complete patience:
8 The light has come. 9 I have forgiven the world.
I have done these lessons before. It would be easy for me to think that when I did it last, it didn’t seem to work in the way Jesus is instructing us. But that was then. I am not there anymore. I am here now. Now is the only time there is. It is brand new, completely unblemished, crystal clean. It is forgiven.
What will this day be like for me? How will it feel? This is not for me to decide or even to think about. My mind is open to an experience I have never had. I wait to be shown. During this mediation, perhaps I will get a glimpse of the forgiven world but I don’t know what to expect.
W-pI.75.7. Realize that your forgiveness entitles you to vision. 2 Understand that the Holy Spirit never fails to give the gift of sight to the forgiving. 3 Believe He will not fail you now. 4 You have forgiven the world. 5 He will be with you as you watch and wait. 6 He will show you what true vision sees. 7 It is His Will, and you have joined with Him. 8 Wait patiently for Him. 9 He will be there. 10 The light has come. 11 You have forgiven the world.
For the time in which I do this lesson, I can forgive the world everything. I can be prepared to see it in a new way. I don’t think about what will happen afterward, how I will feel and if I can sustain this vision. My work this morning is to ask for and receive vision because of my willingness to forgive.
W-pI.75.8. Tell Him you know you cannot fail because you trust in Him. 2 And tell yourself you wait in certainty to look upon the world He promised you. 3 From this time forth you will see differently. 4 Today the light has come. 5 And you will see the world that has been promised you since time began, and in which is the end of time ensured.
I know I cannot fail because I place my trust in Jesus. I forgive and I receive, it is that simple. I wait in certainty to receive what Jesus promises. No matter what happens after, it will never be quite the same. A gift like vision makes an indelible mark on you, and the world appears different after that. I know this from experience.
W-pI.75.9. The shorter practice periods, too, will be joyful reminders of your release. 2 Remind yourself every quarter of an hour or so that today is a time for special celebration. 3 Give thanks for mercy and the Love of God. 4 Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely. 5 Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning. 6 Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to see today. 7 And what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today forever.
W-pI.75.10. Say, then:
2 The light has come. 3 I have forgiven the world.
4 Should you be tempted, say to anyone who seems to pull you back into darkness:
5 The light has come. 6 I have forgiven you.
W-pI.75.11. We dedicate this day to the serenity in which God would have you be. 2 Keep it in your awareness of yourself and see it everywhere today, as we celebrate the beginning of your vision and the sight of the real world, which has come to replace the unforgiven world you thought was real.
No matter what experience we have with the meditation, and no matter what strides we make today, we can celebrate the beginning of our vision and the sight of the real world. May we continue to spread light throughout the Sonship as we practice forgiveness of the world from now on. I think of forgiveness as undoing and this is exactly what we are doing. We are undoing the world we thought was real so that reality can take its place.