Lesson 94
I am as God created me.
W-pI.94.1. Today we continue with the one idea which brings complete salvation; the one statement which makes all forms of temptation powerless; the one thought which renders the ego silent and entirely undone. 2 You are as God created you. 3 The sounds of this world are still, the sights of this world disappear, and all the thoughts that this world ever held are wiped away forever by this one idea. 4 Here is salvation accomplished. 5 Here is sanity restored.
Jesus is telling us now that this is the only idea that we need for complete salvation if we could only accept it as true. We are as God created us… still. We have done nothing to change Creation while in this experience of separation. We can steal and lie and murder in the world of time and space, but in reality, we are still as God created us. The only reason that the book is longer than this one sentence is that we must be convinced that we were only dreaming of sin and that dreams do not affect what God created.
W-pI.94.2. True light is strength, and strength is sinlessness. 2 If you remain as God created you, you must be strong and light must be in you. 3 He Who ensured your sinlessness must be the guarantee of strength and light as well. 4 You are as God created you. 5 Darkness cannot obscure the glory of God’s Son. 6 You stand in light, strong in the sinlessness in which you were created, and in which you will remain throughout eternity.
True light (right-minded thinking) is strength, and strength is sinlessness. God is guarantee of our strength and light so we cannot lose it. It is in us and it is us. No dark thoughts (wrong-minded thinking) can obscure the glory of God’s Son and we are God’s Son. We are in God exactly as He created us and we will remain there throughout eternity. What a promise this is!
Do you ever feel guilty or afraid? Have you ever done something you regret? Have you ever felt alone and unloved? Have you ever had the thought that you are so glad people didn’t know the awful thoughts you sometimes have? Have you ever done something to hurt another intentionally or accidentally? These are all part of the human condition and we have likely done them all. And yet, here we are, magnificent, glorious Sons of God! Nothing can sully what God created perfect. We are eternally as He created us.
W-pI.94.3. Today we will again devote the first five minutes of each waking hour to the attempt to feel the truth in you. 2 Begin these times of searching with these words:
3 I am as God created me.
4 I am His Son eternally.
5 Now try to reach the Son of God in you. 6 This is the Self that never sinned, nor made an image to replace reality. 7 This is the Self that never left Its home in God to walk the world uncertainly. 8 This is the Self that knows no fear, nor could conceive of loss or suffering or death.
This perfect and brilliant Being is still you and you can find this Self within. We are being asked to take a few minutes to be your true Self, the Self that is sinless. This Self will take the place of the image we made to replace It. We only need to quiet the mind a bit, to sink down and inward and be the Son of God you really are. Your Self has gone nowhere. It is what you are so where could it go? As Alan Watts said, you are both awakened and asleep simultaneously. Let us find our awakened Self, today. It wants to be found.
The way we do this is to take our attention from the dreaming self with all its problems and suffering and put our attention on the unaffected Self. It is that simple. It is not hard unless we resist. It is not fearful; it is You! We may not be able to sustain this effort yet, and always we seem to come back to the little self but we do not come back the same as we were. We bring back a memory of an identity that we had forgotten, an identity that is Light and Strength and that is as God created it. It will sustain us until we discard our identity with the ego-self.
W-pI.94.4. Nothing is required of you to reach this goal except to lay all idols and self-images aside; go past the list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to yourself; and wait in silent expectancy for the truth. 2 God has Himself promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. 3 You are asking now. 4 You cannot fail because He cannot fail.
Jesus says we cannot fail in this because God has Himself promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. Ask today. Ask now and ask often. We may not feel like we succeeded but each time we make this effort, we grow stronger in our shift from the ego identity to our true Identity. There is no loss in this. Do not be afraid of it. We are teaching ourselves that we don’t value the anger, fear, guilt, resentment, feelings of rejection and abandonment that is the ego identity, and that instead, we are ready for love, happiness, serenity, safety, and blissful peace that is our true Identity. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
W-pI.94.5. If you do not meet the requirement of practicing for the first five minutes of every hour, at least remind yourself hourly:
2 I am as God created me.
3 I am His Son eternally.
4 Tell yourself frequently today that you are as God created you. 5 And be sure to respond to anyone who seems to irritate you with these words:
6 You are as God created you.
7 You are His Son eternally.
8 Make every effort to do the hourly exercises today. 9 Each one you do will be a giant stride toward your release, and a milestone in learning the thought system which this course sets forth.
Because we are One as the Son of God, we must return as one. We cannot leave a single person behind and still be Whole. To return to our place in God we must bring into God only what is part of God, so we cannot bring these ego thoughts and beliefs. If we could bring them into God, we would change God and that is not possible. So, this tells me that I cannot hold even the slightest grievance against another. I love that we are given a prayer that negates our anger and our blame. To anyone who irritates today let us remember this prayer. And let us do our best to remember our hourly exercises knowing how essential they are to our happiness. Remember, each exercise we do today will be a giant stride toward our release, and a milestone in learning the thought system which this course sets forth.