Lesson 76
I am under no laws but God’s.
W-pI.76.1. We have observed before how many senseless things have seemed to you to be salvation. 2 Each has imprisoned you with laws as senseless as itself. 3 You are not bound by them. 4 Yet to understand that this is so, you must first realize salvation lies not there. 5 While you would seek for it in things that have no meaning, you bind yourself to laws that make no sense. 6 Thus do you seek to prove salvation is where it is not.
Jesus is not going over the list of places where we cannot find salvation because he has already pointed them out. I have one that I recently chose to disregard. I have had a weight issue off and on all my adult life. The other day, I was talking to Jesus about this same old problem and asking him to help me understand why I continue to have it. It became clear to me that I keep bringing the light to the darkness. I think I know the problem; I need to lose weight. I then expect help solving that problem.
I know that is not right. I need to bring the darkness to the light. I let the Holy Spirit show me that weight is not my problem and so I will not find the solution there. The prayer I use now is, “Holy Spirit, heal my mind of the belief that losing weight is my salvation, that it will make me happy. There are no laws but God’s”. It feels counterintuitive for someone who thinks the problem really is about weight to ask for healing of that belief. But this is the guidance I was given and so I will follow it. I see the sense, actually. I decide what the problem is, then I ask for help solving it. The wiser path would be to ask what the problem is, then ask for help solving it.
W-pI.76.2. Today we will be glad you can not prove it. 2 For if you could, you would forever seek salvation where it is not, and never find it. 3 The idea for today tells you once again how simple is salvation. 4 Look for it where it waits for you, and there it will be found. 5 Look no where else, for it is no where else.
Jesus tells us that our Guide out of the illusion is in our mind where God placed It. He also tells us that Heaven is within, and in another place in the Course, he tells us to go within and find God. I think he is very clear about where to find salvation.
W-pI.76.3. Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you. 2 You really think that
you would starve unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs. 3 You really think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed in to your veins through a sharpened needle will ward off disease and death. 4 You really think you are alone unless another body is with you.
W-pI.76.4. It is insanity that thinks these things. 2 You call them laws, and put them under different names in a long catalogue of rituals that have no use and serve no purpose. 3 You think you must obey the “laws” of medicine, of economics and of health. 4 Protect the body, and you will be saved.
We all believe in these laws when we get here. Of course, we do. We made the laws that govern our illusion so we believe in them. We want to keep them in place because that proves we have succeeded in our insane goal of separating from God and that we can make it work. And then one time, we come here to learn that this is not at all true, that we are not bodies bound by laws that govern us, and for us, this is the time.
Yesterday, I had to prep for a colonoscopy. If you have never had one, you may not know how uncomfortable this is. I started the day dreading the whole process but then I remembered that I just made a decision to be miserable. Without thinking about what I was doing, I decided to follow some of those laws we made to govern our lives here. I changed my mind and decided that this was going to be a good day and that nothing to do with the prep or the actual procedure needed to be a problem.
It was the easiest prep and procedure I have ever experienced. More importantly, I think, is that I have changed my mind about other situations in which I thought I had to follow our laws, and they worked out beautifully as well, so I am teaching myself that I am under no laws but Gods. One of these days, I won’t need any procedures because when I let go of the laws of the world, I will have let go of sickness.
W-pI.76.5. These are not laws, but madness. 2 The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself. 3 The body suffers just in order that the mind will fail to see it is the victim of itself. 4 The body’s suffering is a mask the mind holds up to hide what really suffers. 5 It would not understand it is its own enemy; that it attacks itself and wants to die. 6 It is from this your “laws” would save the body. 7 It is for this you think you are a body.
Always and in every case, it is the mind that needs healing, not the body. We don’t suffer because of the body. The body suffers because of a mind that hurts itself. The reason the mind does this is that we prefer to be a victim rather than recognizing that we are responsible, that we do this to ourselves with our thoughts and beliefs. We are our own enemy but we pretend that we are victim to the body. Sickness in the body seems to prove that we really are bodies and really are victims to these bodies.
W-pI.76.6. There are no laws except the laws of God. 2 This needs repeating, over and over, until you realize it applies to everything that you have made in opposition to God’s Will. 3 Your magic has no meaning. 4 What it is meant to save does not exist. 5 Only what it is meant to hide will save you.
The law that says I must weigh a certain amount to be happy is not true. I am under no laws but God’s.
The law that says I must have a certain amount of money to be abundant is not true. I am under no law but God’s.
The law that says if I am not with another body, I will be alone and lonely is not true. I am under no laws but God’s.
The law that says if others do not treat me with love and respect, I will be less worthy is not true. I am under no laws but God’s.
I used to read this lesson and completely misunderstand what Jesus is telling me. I thought that if I should eat whatever I wanted and lose weight and that would prove I was a worthy student of the Course. I thought I should make myself not be afraid of lack and that I should talk myself into being happy when I was feeling lonely. I thought I was guilty when I took medicine or saw a doctor. I had just traded one ego law for another.
What I discovered is that my part in this is to notice when I believe in these laws and to look with the Holy Spirit at their effects on my life. When I believe that I can only be happy when I lose weight and miserable and guilty when I gain, this makes me feel unworthy and ashamed. Seeing this, I realize that unworthy and shamed are not feelings that come from God, so I must be following ego laws.
I remind myself that I am under no laws but God’s. I do this with any of the other many ego laws that the world says we need to follow.
Reminding myself that I am under no laws but God’s doesn’t seem like a very effective prayer to the ego-mind. By living as an ego, we have taught ourselves to distrust the simplicity of right-thinking. We have learned of a teacher that doesn’t want us to succeed. But I have learned to trust my Inner Teacher and to trust Jesus. I have used this simple process on many of the nonsensical laws of ego and it has always worked. It’s funny, really, when I doubt it in some little area of my life in spite of proof otherwise.
W-pI.76.7. The laws of God can never be replaced. 2 We will devote today to rejoicing that this is so. 3 It is no longer a truth that we would hide. 4 We realize instead it is a truth that keeps us free forever. 5 Magic imprisons, but the laws of God make free. 6 The light has come because there are no laws but His.
The light has come. It has come even though I do not take advantage of it all the time. It has come because Jesus overcame the world and we share the same mind. To experience the light as having come requires only that I allow my mind to shift from ego thinking to thinking with my holy mind. Doing this does, indeed, feel like being free of prison. It is exhilarating! I have experienced this in most areas of my life and I continue the process until there are no dark corners in my mind dedicated to ego laws.
W-pI.76.8. We will begin the longer practice periods today with a short review of the different kinds of “laws” we have believed we must obey. 2 These would include, for example, the”laws” of nutrition, of immunization, of medication, and of the body’s protection in innumerable ways. 3 Think further; you believe in the “laws” of friendship, of “good” relationships and reciprocity. 4 Perhaps you even think that there are laws which set forth what is God’s and what is yours. 5 Many “religions” have been based on this. 6 They would not save but damn in Heaven’s name. 7 Yet they are no more strange than other “laws” you hold must be obeyed to make you safe.
Again, I remind myself that changing my behavior is not the same thing as changing my mind. For instance, if I stop taking medicine but still believe in sickness, I am acting foolishly and will suffer for it rather than being released. If I realize that I am still afraid of not taking the medicine and feel guilty for that, I will suffer.
Instead, I continue the process that has worked so well for me and each time I choose to take the medicine or go to the doctor, I will approach the situation with love, appreciation, and openmindedness. This approach alone will begin the healing process and with an open mind, I will accept the healing I can at this time without deciding on my own what that looks like. I will not judge my progress.
W-pI.76.9. There are no laws but God’s. 2 Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today, and hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you. 3 You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. 4 Payment is neither given nor received. 5 Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes; and nothing is replaced by something else. 6 God’s laws forever give and never take.
Spending time listening to the Voice for God is time well spent. The ego-mind chatters away relentlessly about its problems and its solutions. We need to give the Holy Spirit our attention if we intend to change our minds. We can do this in a formal meditation. We can also do it all the time without interrupting our daily schedule. Like all new habits, it feels hard to do this until it is established through consistency.
Jesus also tells us that in God’s laws give and never take. I was thinking about the idea of weight loss. Under the ego’s laws, we give up what we love to eat and in exchange, we lose weight. We must lose in order to win. When I give my mind to God, there is nothing asked of me and I discover a new way to live in peace and freedom.
Here is an example of this that I have achieved through the simple process of looking with the Holy Spirit and accepting His healing. I used to believe in victimhood because I didn’t understand the law of cause and effect or know how to use it for my benefit. I thought that when something happened that caused me to suffer, I had to find who was guilty and punish them or make them behave differently.
For instance, if a friend seemed to abandon me and I felt bereft, I would blame her for my feelings and try to make her see how badly she treated me. Or I might cross her off my list of friends. My belief was that she was the cause and my hurt feelings were the effect. I learned, however, that our unhealed mind is the cause and everything in the world is its effect. Knowing this, I reminded myself that I am under no laws but God’s. No one else causes anything in my world and so my friend cannot be guilty. Nothing and no one else can be guilty for what I experience. Therefore, I cannot be a victim. I am never confused about this now.
W-pI.76.10. Hear Him Who tells you this, and realize how foolish are the “laws” you thought upheld the world you thought you saw. 2 Then listen further. 3 He will tell you more. 4 About the Love your Father has for you. 5 About the endless joy He offers you. 6 About His yearning for His only Son, created as His channel for creation; denied to Him by his belief in hell.
We are so used to doing something to make anything happen that it feels strange to simply allow. I used to think that I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t listen to His words unless I was meditating and I would try to hear them in meditation and all I heard was the ego chatter of my mind. So, I thought nothing was happening. But over time, my mind began to change and I came to realize that my desire to “hear” God’s Voice was all that was needed. I didn’t need to ‘do’ anything. It did help, though, to not fill all my time with distractions like TV. But no matter what I did, God’s Voice found me, even in the shows I watched.
It is helpful to become aware of certain ideas on a conscious level sometimes, so I asked for this and I was given a process that works for me. I write. I start by asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten me and to give me the words that are helpful toward this end. Then I start writing. This is what I do each morning with the Lessons. The Lessons give me a focal point and the words that come through me clarify them. The form seems like my voice, but in content, it is sometimes remarkably different than what I would have written on my own.
W-pI.76.11. Let us today open God’s channels to Him, and let His Will extend through us to Him. 2 Thus is creation endlessly increased. 3 His Voice will speak of this to us, as well as of the joys of Heaven which His laws keep limitless forever. 4
We will repeat today’s idea until we have listened and understood there are no laws but God’s. 5 Then we will tell ourselves, as a dedication with which the practice period concludes:
6 I am under no laws but God’s.
W-pI.76.12. We will repeat this dedication as often as possible today; at least four or five times an hour, as well as in response to any temptation to experience ourselves as subject to other laws throughout the day. 2 It is our statement of freedom from all danger and all tyranny. 3 It is our acknowledgment that God is our Father, and that His Son is saved.
If you think that this is too simple to really do anything, or that you will be too busy and distracted by all the important ‘doings’ of the day, then think about this.
2 It is our statement of freedom from all danger and all tyranny. 3 It is our acknowledgment that God is our Father, and that His Son is saved.