Review IV
Introduction
My mind holds only what I think with God.
1. Now we review again, this time aware we are preparing for the second part of learning how the truth can be applied. ²Today we will begin to concentrate on readiness for what will follow next. ³Such is our aim for this review, and for the lessons following. ⁴Thus, we review the recent lessons and their central thoughts in such a way as will facilitate the readiness that we would now achieve.
2. There is a central theme that unifies each step in the review we undertake, which can be simply stated in these words:
²My mind holds only what I think with God.
³That is a fact, and represents the truth of What you are and What your Father is. ⁴It is this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as co-creator with Himself. ⁵It is this thought that fully guarantees salvation to the Son. ⁶For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. ⁷Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness. ⁸Yet it is forever true.
3. Let us begin our preparation with some understanding of the many forms in which the lack of true forgiveness may be carefully concealed. ²Because they are illusions, they are not perceived to be but what they are; defenses that protect your unforgiving thoughts from being seen and recognized. ³Their purpose is to show you something else, and hold correction off through self-deceptions made to take its place.
4. And yet, your mind holds only what you think with God. ²Your self-deceptions cannot take the place of truth. ³No more than can a child who throws a stick into the ocean change the coming and the going of the tides, the warming of the water by the sun, the silver of the moon on it by night. ⁴So do we start each practice period in this review with readying our minds to understand the lessons that we read, and see the meaning that they offer us.
5. Begin each day with time devoted to the preparation of your mind to learn what each idea you will review that day can offer you in freedom and in peace. ²Open your mind, and clear it of all thoughts that would deceive, and let this thought alone engage it fully, and remove the rest:
³My mind holds only what I think with God.
⁴Five minutes with this thought will be enough to set the day along the lines which God appointed, and to place His Mind in charge of all the thoughts you will receive that day.
6. They will not come from you alone, for they will all be shared with Him. ²And so each one will bring the message of His Love to you, returning messages of yours to Him. ³So will communion with the Lord of Hosts be yours, as He Himself has willed it be. ⁴And as His Own completion joins with Him, so will He join with you who are complete as you unite with Him, and He with you.
7. After your preparation, merely read each of the two ideas assigned to you to be reviewed that day. ²Then close your eyes, and say them slowly to yourself. ³There is no hurry now, for you are using time for its intended purpose. ⁴Let each word shine with the meaning God has given it, as it was given to you through His Voice. ⁵Let each idea which you review that day give you the gift that He has laid in it for you to have of Him. ⁶And we will use no format for our practicing but this:
8. Each hour of the day, bring to your mind the thought with which the day began, and spend a quiet moment with it. ²Then repeat the two ideas you practice for the day unhurriedly, with time enough to see the gifts that they contain for you, and let them be received where they were meant to be.
9. We add no other thoughts, but let these be the messages they are. ²We need no more than this to give us happiness and rest, and endless quiet, perfect certainty, and all our Father wills that we receive as the inheritance we have of Him. ³Each day of practicing, as we review, we close as we began, repeating first the thought that made the day a special time of blessing and of happiness for us; and through our faithfulness restored the world from darkness to the light, from grief to joy, from pain to peace, from sin to holiness.
10. God offers thanks to you who practice thus the keeping of His Word. ²And as you give your mind to the ideas for the day again before you sleep, His gratitude surrounds you in the peace wherein He wills you be forever, and are learning now to claim again as your inheritance.
It might seem odd to think of your mind holding only what you think with God. It certainly seems like our minds are full of nonsense and many of those thoughts cause us immense suffering. Until the mind is healed enough to bring relief, we don’t actually realize how much we suffered. So how is it that our minds hold only what we think with God? If we go back to our early lessons, we can see that the chatter in the mind is not our real thoughts. Remember, he referred to them as the thoughts we think we think.
They are just meaningless ideas and they are meant to obscure our failure to forgive so much so that we spend most of our lives not knowing why it is we fail to find happiness and peace. Simply acknowledging that these are not our real thoughts and that we do have real thoughts is a big step toward remembering what we are. It is certainly an excellent way for us to ready ourselves to become aware of the thoughts we think with God.
Let us today follow this guidance and trust that as we place His Mind in charge of all the thoughts we will receive today our minds are being healed whether we notice these messages of love or not. Think for a moment of what is being offered to us today. . ³So will communion with the Lord of Hosts be yours, as He Himself has willed it be. ⁴And as His Own completion joins with Him, so will He join with you who are complete as you unite with Him, and He with you. And He will thank you for your practice.