Lesson 98

I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

W-pI.98.1. Today is a day of special dedication. 2 We take a stand on but one side today. 3 We side with truth and let illusions go. 4 We will not vacillate between the two, but take a firm position with the One. 5 We dedicate ourselves to truth today, and to salvation as God planned it be. 6 We will not argue it is something else. 7 We will not seek for it where it is not. 8 In gladness we accept it as it is, and take the part assigned to us by God.

What does it mean to me to accept my part in God’s plan for salvation? It means that I will be vigilant for thoughts that side with illusions. I will notice if I am judging. I will be willing to see the attack thoughts in my mind. I will not flinch for any thoughts that show me self-loathing, regret, or the belief that I am abandoned and rejected. When I find thoughts like this, I will let these illusions go without exception. I will ask the Holy Spirit to look at them with me, to be with me as I allow the accompanying emotion to roll through me. I will then know that I honestly do not want them and so I can release them to the Holy Spirit. 

What this does not mean is that It does not mean that I will expect my mind to be perfectly healed and that I will judge my thoughts. I will not be discouraged and disappointed if ego thoughts show up in my mind. It does not mean that I will not try to have only true thoughts, simply that I will gladly release them to the Holy Spirit. Trying not to have a thought is a fool’s plan. It doesn’t work. I will not try to heal my own mind; that is the Holy Spirit’s function. Mine is to desire healing. 

W-pI.98.2. How happy to be certain! 2 All our doubts we lay aside today, and take our stand with certainty of purpose, and with thanks that doubt is gone and surety has come. 3 We have a mighty purpose to fulfill, and have been given everything we need with which to reach the goal. 4 Not one mistake stands in our way. 5 For we have been absolved from errors. 6 All our sins are washed away by realizing they were but mistakes. 

Surely by now we have all come to accept that Jesus knows what he is talking about and that we can trust he is leading us out of hell. Today, let us turn away from the ego doubts that will surely arise in our minds and remember that trust. Will it be perfect? Perhaps not, or perhaps we will agree in theory and understand the concept but without more practice and more success, there is still some doubt. But that cannot stop us from making a stand, from choosing to approach this with surety of purpose.  

There is a place in the Course where Jesus tells us to decide ahead of time what something is for and then we will use it to accomplish our goal. This is what we are doing today. We are establishing today as a day of special dedication to awakening and so we will use everything that happens as a way of achieving that goal. This means that we will not let mistakes stand in our way, and instead, we will use those mistakes to achieve further healing. Mistakes are not sins, just errors to be corrected and each correction brings us closer to our goal. 

W-pI.98.3. The guiltless have no fear, for they are safe and recognize their safety. 2 They do not appeal to magic, nor invent escapes from fancied threats without reality. 3 They rest in quiet certainty that they will do what it is given them to do. 4 They do not doubt their own ability because they know their function will be filled completely in the perfect time and place. 5 They took the stand which we will take today, that we may share their certainty and thus increase it by accepting it ourselves. 

Because I had had so much guilt and fear when I started this Course, I am irresistibly drawn to the idea of being guiltless and fearless. The fact is, I am guiltless and fearless already, but in my human experience as the character, Myron, this is not apparent. It is possible, though, to heal the mind and uncover the truth about myself.  

I can accomplish this if I choose not to be pulled into the story in an attempt to fix it, but instead, look at the beliefs that drive this story and choose to change the mind that thinks them. We have an ego-mind with which we think these wrong-minded thoughts. But we also have a holy mind where the Holy Spirit abides and using this mind, we can think right-minded thoughts. We can rest in certainty that we are learning the difference and learning to choose wisely and that this happening in perfect timing. Today, let us take this stand and in doing so we will share our certainty and thus increase it. 

W-pI.98.4. They will be with us; all who took the stand we take today will gladly offer us all that they learned and every gain they made. 2 Those still uncertain, too, will join with us, and, borrowing our certainty, will make it stronger still. 3 While those as yet unborn will hear the call we heard, and answer it when they have come to make their choice again. 4 We do not choose but for ourselves today. 

Oh, my! Did we think that we are here only to awaken ourselves? We are inextricably connected, one with each other and what we gain for ourselves is gained for all. Those who have already taken this stand help us and those who borrow our certainty make it stronger as they do so. Even those who are yet unborn will benefit. They will hear the call we heard and make their choice again. We do not choose but for ourselves today. I want very much to do my part in this grand plan. 

W-pI.98.5. Is it not worth five minutes of your time each hour to be able to accept the happiness that God has given you? 2 Is it not worth five minutes hourly to recognize your special function here? 3 Is not five minutes but a small request to make in terms of gaining a reward so great it has no measure? 4 You have made a thousand losing bargains at the least. 

W-pI.98.6. Here is an offer guaranteeing you your full release from pain of every kind, and joy the world does not contain. 2 You can exchange a little of your time for peace of mind and certainty of purpose, with the promise of complete success. 3 And since time has no meaning, you are being asked for nothing in return for everything. 4 Here is a bargain that you cannot lose. 5 And what you gain is limitless indeed! 

So very little is asked of us and the return is so great it is surprising that Jesus must spend so much time convincing us to do the work. But I do know that this is necessary. I resisted in so many ways for a long time. Having made great strides, I can now laugh at my resistance but at the time, it just felt like I couldn’t do this and often that I didn’t understand what he wanted of me or how to accomplish it.  

In actuality, Jesus is very clear and the process is simple. All I can tell someone else is don’t worry about this, just keep doing the practices as well as you can and trust in our Brother who has gone before us and brought the Holy Spirit down to us making it possible for us to hear Him. Jesus has put His plan into action and he will not abandon us. Everything he says is possible and not nearly as hard as the ego likes to make it seem. 

W-pI.98.7. Each hour today give Him your tiny gift of but five minutes. 2 He will give the words you use in practicing today’s idea the deep conviction and the certainty you lack. 3 His words will join with yours, and make each repetition of today’s idea a total dedication, made in faith as perfect and as sure as His in you. 4 His confidence in you will bring the light to all the words you say, and you will go beyond their sound to what they really mean. 5 Today you practice with Him, as you say: 

6 I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation. 

Ah, you see? We are not doing this alone. The Holy Spirit resides in your mind and will give your words the deep conviction and the certainty that you lack. He will give your words power as He joins with you in doing this practice every hour. Just give your heart to this day’s practice and trust that His confidence will strengthen yours. Today let us practice with the Holy Spirit as we say, “I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.” Realize that the ego will object to this and will say in many different ways that you can’t do it and don’t want to do it. Remember that you are not the ego and you don’t have to believe the ego. Place your trust in our Brother, instead. 

W-pI.98.8. In each five minutes that you spend with Him, He will accept your words and give them back to you all bright with faith and confidence so strong and steady they will light the world with hope and gladness. 2 Do not lose one chance to be the glad receiver of His gifts, that you may give them to the world today. 

W-pI.98.9. Give Him the words, and He will do the rest. 2 He will enable you to understand your special function. 3 He will open up the way to happiness, and peace and trust will be His gifts; His answer to your words. 4 He will respond with all His faith and joy and certainty that what you say is true. 5 And you will have conviction then of Him Who knows the function that you have on earth as well as Heaven. 6 He will be with you each practice period you share with Him, exchanging every instant of the time you offer Him for timelessness and peace. 

Jesus becomes more persuasive in these paragraphs. We are further assured that we don’t do this alone and that our part is, indeed, simple and easy. We give the Holy Spirit our words with as much conviction as we can and He does the rest. He carries them to those who are ready to hear. He adds His power to them. He also will enable us to understand our special function. 

Completing our function will assure our happiness, peace, and trust. Probably as we do these lessons, our own certainty lacks total conviction, but that’s ok. As we do them anyway, He adds His faith and thus strengthens ours. We may not begin with total conviction and probably won’t, but we will have conviction of Him. The Holy Spirit knows our function on earth as well as Heaven. He knows it for us.  

W-pI.98.10. Throughout the hour, let your time be spent in happy preparation for the next five minutes you will spend again with Him. 2 Repeat today’s idea while you wait for the glad time to come to you again. 3 Repeat it often, and do not forget each time you do so, you have let your mind be readied for the happy time to come. 

W-pI.98.11. And when the hour goes and He is there once more to spend a little time with you, be thankful and lay down all earthly tasks, all little thoughts and limited ideas, and spend a happy time again with Him. 2 Tell Him once more that you accept the part that He would have you take and help you fill, and He will make you sure you want this choice, which He has made with you and you with Him. 

I used to approach these practices with a mixture of uncertainty and trepidation. I didn’t have much faith in myself and couldn’t imagine how I could have a special function. But I did them anyway and what Jesus tells us is true. The Holy Spirit knows our function for us and will help us fulfill it. We grow strong in doing these lessons and we discover happiness and peace that does not leave us.  

I am reminded of an earlier lesson in which Jesus tells us to approach all things with love, appreciation, and Openmindedness. This is my approach now. Gone are the uncertainty and doubt. I love the Holy Spirit in my mind and my Brother, and I love that we are given this simple path Home. I have so much appreciation for the help we are given in doing these lessons. My mind is wide open to accept what I cannot understand and what seems impossible to the human mind. My mind is open to the truth and to the practice that will bring me to the truth.