Lesson 97

I am spirit.

W-pI.97.1. Today’s idea identifies you with your one Self. 2 It accepts no split identity, nor tries to weave opposing factors into unity. 3 It simply states the truth. 4 Practice this truth today as often as you can, for it will bring your mind from conflict to the quiet fields of peace. 5 No chill of fear can enter, for your mind has been absolved from madness, letting go illusions of a split identity.

Do you see what it means to know that you are spirit? Not spirit and body, just spirit. I am not this character, Myron at all. I am spirit and only spirit. As spirit, I cannot be hurt so I am perfectly safe. I am simply aware of the story of Myron from a distance, fully aware of the situations and the emotions so that it all feels real and thus I am having an immersive experience of Myron without changing what I am.

W-pI.97.2. We state again the truth about your Self, the holy Son of God Who rests in you, whose mind has been restored to sanity. 2 You are the spirit lovingly endowed with all your Father’s Love and peace and joy. 3 You are the spirit which completes Himself, and shares His function as Creator. 4 He is with you always, as you are with Him.

We are all spirit having various experiences but still safe and loved in our Father for all eternity. This could never change because it is not God’s Will that it change, and since we are in God, part of God, it is not our will that it change. It is our will to awaken from the dream of separation and so with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will.

W-pI.97.3. Today we try to bring reality still closer to your mind. 2 Each time you practice, awareness is brought a little nearer at least; sometimes a thousand years or more are saved. 3 The minutes which you give are multiplied over and over, for the miracle makes use of time, but is not ruled by it. 4 Salvation is a miracle, the first and last; the first that is the last, for it is one.

We use these lessons to bring reality forward in our mind so that we can become aware of it rather than of the dream world we made up. Jesus says that our practices can save us thousands of years because these minutes are multiplied over and over. He also notes that the miracle makes use of time without being ruled by it as we are in this world. This is a nod to the unreality of time.

We made time to accommodate the idea of separation and our use of time keeps us bound to the world.  But the miracle uses time differently; it uses time for salvation’s purpose. The last sentence is cryptic, but only because we do not understand reality. It says that salvation is the first and last miracle; the first that is last for it is one. I think he means that outside the idea of time, there is no before and after, no first and second. There is only what is.

I have thought about this idea of saving a thousand years as I release an error and accept the miracle. I think that what he means is that as we forgive an idea such as guilt, this miracle does not forgive it in just this minute but for all minutes across time, both in the past and in the future. I think this applies not to just this one lifetime but all our lifetimes. Thinking of it this way, we can see how the idea of a thousand years is not an exaggeration.

Regina Dawn Akers did a teaching of an idea that she received. It is called The Code. From that teaching, I got the idea of the mind as a computer. In it is a lot of code and some of it is bad code. We are here to remove that code when we find it so that the program runs smoothly. This is not all that is in this brilliant teaching but it is what stood out to me and stuck with me.

So, using that metaphor, I imagine that releasing my belief in certain thoughts is like deleting an error in my document. For instance, if I let go of a belief that I am guilty for something I said that hurt someone, and forgive myself for my error, that guilt is deleted. The guilt is bad code and it keeps the program from running correctly. And if I do this the next time I feel guilty, I might start to see that forgiveness applies when I think someone else is guilty, so in my metaphor, I can delete many forms of guilt (many instances of bad code are removed.)  

Deleting the same error many times no matter what form it takes, I begin to see that the content of those different forms is the same. Going forward with our metaphor, instead of deleting each one as I find it I use the find and replace function on my computer. I ask it to replace each use of the word guilt with forgiveness.

Now the whole document is corrected at once. Or as is really happening, my mind lets go of all belief in guilt at once, and in doing so, it is released in all my lives and in the lives of many others. Oh, what if I used the find and replace function to find all fear thoughts and replace them with love thoughts? Oh, my!

W-pI.97.4. You are the spirit in whose mind abides the miracle in which all time stands still; the miracle in which a minute spent in using these ideas becomes a time that has no limit and that has no end. 2 Give, then, these minutes willingly, and count on Him Who promised to lay timelessness beside them. 3 He will offer all His strength to every little effort that you make. 4 Give Him the minutes which He needs today, to help you understand with Him you are the spirit that abides in Him, and that calls through His Voice to every living thing; offers His sight to everyone who asks; replaces error with the simple truth.

The miracle is possible because it abides in the mind of spirit, in my mind and so I can easily give over the thoughts and beliefs that are binding us to this world and they will be undone. Just using the exercises in these lessons will accomplish so much more than we imagine given the little effort and time asked of us. That is part of the miracle. In return He will help us remember Who We really are. We are not doing this simply for ourselves because everyone receives as we receive.

W-pI.97.5. The Holy Spirit will be glad to take five minutes of each hour from your hands, and carry them around this aching world where pain and misery appear to rule. 2 He will not overlook one open mind that will accept the healing gifts they bring, and He will lay them everywhere He knows they will be welcome. 3 And they will increase in healing power each time someone accepts them as his thoughts, and uses them to heal.

I love the fact that when we start the lessons on January 1^st, thousands and thousands of people are starting it with us. We are all doing the same lesson at the same time. Each moment that we spend doing the practice, the Holy Spirit is giving these thoughts to everyone who is ready for them. I have a thought of being only spirit, and someone somewhere is ready to welcome that thought into their mind, and there it is. Not only that, but their acceptance of the thought strengthens it and so when it is again given to those ready for it it is increased in healing power. This is what we are doing today each hour. When I think of this, I realize what a sacred responsibility we have been given.

W-pI.97.6. Thus will each gift to Him be multiplied a thousand fold and tens of thousands more. 2 And when it is returned to you, it will surpass in might the little gift you gave as much as does the radiance of the sun outshine the tiny gleam a firefly makes an uncertain moment and goes out. 3 The steady brilliance of this light remains and leads you out of darkness, nor will you be able to forget the way again.

And so we are told that not only are we benefiting from the time we spend on these lessons, we are helping others benefit. Not only that, but as the Holy Spirit shares our benefit with those who are ready for it, something we could not do ourselves, the benefit increases a thousand fold. And here is the bonus, when it comes back to us, it is mightier than we could imagine.

As Jesus expresses it, it will surpass in might the little gift you gave as much as does the radiance of the sun outshine the tiny gleam a firefly makes an uncertain moment and goes out. That is very poetic but also it gets across the idea very well. We are then told that this steady brilliance will lead us out of darkness and we will never forget the way again. Oh my, goodness! What a wonderful thought, what an incredible promise! What else can you use these bits of time for today that surpasses this in importance?

W-pI.97.7. Begin these happy exercises with the words the Holy Spirit speaks to you, and let them echo round the world through Him:

2 Spirit am I, a holy Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole, free to forgive, and free to save the world.

3 Expressed through you, the Holy Spirit will accept this gift that you received of Him, increase its power and give it back to you.

W-pI.97.8. Offer each practice period today gladly to Him. 2 And He will speak to you, reminding you that you are spirit, one with Him and God, your brothers and your Self. 3 Listen for His assurance every time you speak the words He offers you today, and let Him tell your mind that they are true. 4 Use them against temptation, and escape its sorry consequences if you yield to the belief that you are something else. 5 The Holy Spirit gives you peace today. 6 Receive His words, and offer them to Him.

We really are the saviors of the world. I will not abandon the world to hell today. I will do my very necessary and powerful part and I will not forget. For the sake of us all, I will not forget.