 a Course in Miracles live. We're going through the workbook of a Course in Miracles. Every day Jesus is giving us these beautiful ideas to embrace and to help us discern the difference between spirit which is real and the material world of time and space and bodies and so forth. The five senses which is unreal because it's temporary. It's temporary. It's blessed are those that see that the eternal is real and accept reality exactly as it is and and those who who put faith in the temporal into the temporary and believe that there is reality in the temporary then that that's what we call a grievance. So the light of the world is realized when you don't hold on to any grievances and we've had a whole string of workbook lessons here recently that have really been helping us to see that my grievances hide the light of the world in me and and holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation because God's plan for salvation is just forgiveness is seeing the false is false and looking upon the world with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus so so when you give reality to images then you're giving reality to the temporary and then that's not real. Jesus told us in his introduction of a Course in Miracles nothing real can be threatened nothing unreal exists herein lies the peace of God and that is our inheritance that's our birthright that's our natural state of mind peace peace be to you and peace be to all peace I offer the peace of God which is our inheritance so today we're going to move into workbook lesson 173 I will there be light today we are considering the will you share with God this is not the same as the ego's idle wishes out of which darkness and nothingness arise the will you share with God has all the power of creation in it the ego's idle wishes are unshared and therefore have no power at all its wishes are not idle in the sense that they can make a world of illusions in which your belief can be very strong but they are idle indeed in terms of creation they make nothing that is real so how beautiful basically what Jesus is teaching us in the Course our ideas are strengthened as they're shared so God is the Creator God creates the Spirit Christ the light of Christ and that's an extension of God fully and then Christ has spiritual Spirit creations as well but that's a continuous line of creation but but the ego is the belief that ideas can leave their source that somehow the Son of God for could fall from grace and go into a world unlike heaven of time and space and make up a body and make up an identity and then get all caught up and mesmerized and hypnotized by these thoughts and images so the ego basically peoples a world makes a world of separation of linear time persons places things situation circumstances and then it will try to use these projections to keep the mind from forgiving at all from seeing wait a minute this is all temporary and I am an eternal being with an eternal Creator and so even if the ego people the world with these images to dissuade me from my home in heaven I don't have to really buy into any of the witnesses of the ego and that means the witnesses of the five senses I can turn within to Jesus turn within to the Holy Spirit go deep into that love inside and then when I look upon the world it's a world of reflection of light and love that's what the forgiven world or the happy dream is so here we go we're we're really learning about that word will I will there be light means I need to put my my full desire on wanting that there be light because there is light it's like I will to know I will to experience the light I the wishes and grievances are partners for co-makers in picturing the world you see the wishes of the ego gave rise to it and the egos need for grievances which are necessary to maintain it peoples it with figures that seem to attack you and call for righteous judgment these figures become the middlemen the ego employs to traffic in grievances they stand between your awareness and your brother's reality beholding them you do not know your brothers or your Christ self so it's beautiful to see that that there's ego wishes you might say you have an altar in the mind and when the ego is put on the altar then then there's ego wishes there and then out of those ego wishes arises a whole cosmos of time and space and and is peopled with with worlds and people with people and things and all kinds of temporary images but these images are just made out of hatred because the purposes for grievances and it says the wishes of the ego gave rise to it the distorted world and the egos need for grievances which are necessary to maintain it peoples it with figures that seem to attack you and call for righteous judgment so if you are witnessing an accusation from anything or anyone it could be anything or anyone in the whole cosmos but if if you're witnessing an accusation it's because you believe that there is an attack that that belief in separation from God or ego is real and then the symbols of the witnesses are just projections or the ego people that with figures that seem to attack you and call for righteous judgment but actually these figures aren't real and when you come in with the Holy Spirit in Jesus you do see that that the world lights up and the happy dream the forgiven world is is there it's been there all along Holy Spirit made the real world the world of non-judgment we can call it to be a reflection of of the light and that is our inheritance so he's he's saying these figures become the middleman the ego employees to traffic and grievances so if you put faith in the flesh then you're going to perceive grievances if you believe in the reality of the bodies then you're going to believe that sin is real because sin as we learn from a course of miracles sin is just an error to be corrected and then Jesus has told us in the course that the Holy Spirit corrected the error the instant the error arose it's not like there's a battle going on between good and evil the light is is all that there is darkness disappears in the presence of light or as the Bible says perfect love cast out fear but if there's any harboring of any scraps of the ego belief system or these wishes then the witnesses seem to be acting out the wish to be separate from God and that is why we need discernment he says they stand between your awareness and your brother's reality our awareness is what our consciousness is beholding our brother's reality is spirit it's the Christ and if we behold these dream figures as real and we take these pointy fingers of accusations as real then he's saying beholding them you do not know your brothers or your Christ self so it comes down to it's between you and God in the sense that if you accept God's will exactly as it is for perfect happiness if you expect that truly spirit is is all that there can be and you accept it then that's the end of the struggle but let's look at this lesson because Jesus is giving us a lesson in in not engaging and not bartering with these dream figures or with the wishes that are underneath the dream figures he's like saying stand in the light stand in the vertical stay with your connection with your Creator stay with the Holy Spirit stay with Jesus so this is here we go your will is lost to you in this strange bartering in which guilt is traded back and forth and grievances increase with each exchange can such a world have been created by the will the Son of God shares with his father did God create disaster for his son creation is the will of both together father and son creator and creation would God create a world that kills himself divine logic I'll read that last one again would God create a world that kills himself today we will try once more to reach that world that is in accordance with your will the light is in it because it does not oppose the will of God it is not heaven but the light of heaven shines on it darkness has vanished the egos idol wishes have been withdrawn yet the light that shines upon this world reflects your will and so it must be in you that we will look for it your picture of the world can only mirror what is within the source of neither light nor darkness can be found without grievances darken your mind and you look out on a darkened world forgiveness lifts the darkness reasserts your will and lets you look upon a world of light we have repeatedly emphasized that the barrier of grievances is easily past and cannot stand between you and your salvation the reason is very simple do you really want to be in hell do you really want to weep and suffer and die okay those are those are good questions let's do questions for right here and now do you really want to be in hell do you really want to weep and suffer and die what do I want because that's going to determine everything do I want to see the light or do I want to see the darkness do you really want to be in hell do you really want to weep and suffer and die forget the ego's arguments which seek to prove all this is really heaven you know it is not so you cannot want this for yourself there is a point beyond which illusions cannot go suffering is not happiness and it is happiness you really want such is your will in truth and so salvation is your will as well you want to succeed in what we are trying to do today we undertake it with your blessing and your glad accord we will succeed today if you remember that you want salvation for yourself you want to accept God's plan because you share in it you have no will that can really oppose it and you do not want to do so salvation is for you above all else you want the freedom to remember who you really are today it is the ego that stands powerless before your will your will is free and nothing can prevail against it therefore we undertake the exercises for today in happy confidence certain that we will find what it is your will to find and remember what it is your will to remember no idol wishes can detain us nor deceive us within an illusion of strength today let your will be done and end forever the insane belief that it is hell in place of heaven that you choose we will begin our longer practice periods with the recognition that God's plan for salvation and only his is holy in accord with your will it is not the purpose of an alien power thrust upon you unwillingly it is the one purpose here on which you and your father are in perfect accord you will succeed today the time appointed for the release of the son of God from hell and from all idol wishes his will is now restored to his awareness he is willing this very day to look upon the light in him and be saved after reminding yourself of this and determining to keep your will clearly in mind tell yourself with gentle firmness and quiet certainty I will there be light let me behold the light that reflects God's will and mine then let your will assert itself joined with the power of God and united with your Christ self put the rest of the practice period under their guidance join with them as they lead the way in the shorter practice periods again make a declaration of what you really want say I will there be light darkness is not my will this should be repeated several times an hour it is most important however to apply today's idea in this form immediately you are tempted to hold a grievance of any kind this will help you let your grievance go instead of cherishing them and hiding them in darkness so if a grievance arises in your mind any grievance any ill thought any feeling of wrongness or badness or or injustice or unfairly treated or victimization any grievance that arises in the mind today here's the answer I will there be light darkness is not my will so what a beautiful lesson today I will there be light because it's coming to the realization that only the thoughts of God can be shared so if you're sharing the thoughts of God real thoughts of love peace happiness joy if you're sharing the thoughts of God then you strengthen them in awareness and you know all this my will this is God's will and this is my will perfect love peace joy happiness and if you attempt to share a grievance if you attempt to share a darkness a dark thought an accusation if you attempt to blame somebody point the finger if you if you attempt to share the belief that there's a mistreatment happening or an injustice happening if you attempt to share a dark will say a temporary let's call it a private thought the reason it's a private thought is because ultimately there are no private thoughts because only the thoughts of God can be shared and when you share the thoughts of God you're happy and when you try to share the private thoughts then you try to share an illusion what Jesus tells us is that you can't share illusions because the ego is an unreal thought it's an unreal belief and it can't be shared you can perceive a world in which there seems to be all kinds of ego attacks and attack thoughts being pictured but ultimately metaphysically you can't share an attack thought and that is learned when you finally open up to we'll say less than 23 I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts I can escape from the distorted dark perceptual distortions by giving up attack thoughts I can forgive and I'll see the whole world differently if I attempt to share illusions I'm attempting the sharing of nothing and that's what we call gossip in this world gossip is the attempt to share nothing and to make it real and Jesus is like it's not real God didn't create it it won't ever be real and you bring the illusion of suffering to your mind when you attempt to hold a grievance and to share it when you attempt to publish it to the world when you attempt to to put it out there you're really just throwing a kaboom ring and you're going and it's going because attack is always an attack on the self in the mind it's just a belief that you can attack yourself by believing in separation from God and then anything that you picture in this world that's based on attack grievances injustice anything like that that just perpetuates a veil it covers over the light but today new direction for us I will there be light I will to know my will and God's will are the same that we are one we are one in heaven we are one forever forever and ever and ever and nothing can ever change that deep lesson today deep lesson so I prayed a little bit on what texts we could use here to support our lesson I will there be light and I found a section in chapter 18 and a section in chapter 29 so let's jump back here to chapter 18 the passing of the dream and let's jump down to section 9 the two worlds you have been told to bring the darkness to the light and guilt to holiness you have also been told that error must be corrected at its source therefore it is the tiny part of yourself the little thought that seems split off and separate the Holy Spirit needs the rest is fully in God's keeping and needs no guide yet this wild and delusional thought needs help because in its delusions it thinks it is the Son of God whole and omnipotent soul ruler of the kingdom it set apart to tyrannize by madness into obedience and slavery this is an ego belief that thinks it's the Son of God thinks it's a body it forgot that it's a spirit it had an amnesia about heaven and about eternal oneness and now it thinks it's the Son of God this tiny mad idea this belief in the ego thinks it's the Son of God and it thinks it's important and it thinks it's whole and omnipotent and soul ruler of the kingdom it set apart letting your time and space to tyrannize by madness into obedience and slavery this is the little part you think you stole from heaven give it back to heaven heaven has not lost it but you have lost sight of heaven let the Holy Spirit remove it from the withered kingdom in which you set it off surrounded by darkness guarded by attack and reinforced by hate within its barricades is still a tiny segment of the Son of God complete and holy serene and unaware of what you think surrounds it be you not separate for the one who does surround it has brought union to you returning your little offering of darkness to the eternal light how is this done it is extremely simple being based on what this little kingdom really is the barren sands the darkness and the lifeless are seen only through the body's eyes its bleak sight is distorted and the messages it transmit to you who made it to limit your awareness are little and limited and so fragmented they are meaningless from the world of bodies made by insanity insane messages seem to be returning to the mind that made it and these messages bear witness to this world pronouncing it is true for you sent forth these messengers to bring this back to you everything these messages relate to you is quite external there are no messages that speak of what lies underneath for it is not the body that could speak of this its eyes perceive it not its senses remain quite unaware of it its tongue cannot relay its messages yet God can bring you there if you are willing to follow the Holy Spirit through seeming terror trusting him not to abandon you and leave you there for it is not his purpose to frighten you but only yours you are severely tempted to abandon him at the outside ring of fear but he would lead you safely through and far beyond the circle of fear lies just below the level the body sees and seems to be the whole foundation on which the world is based here are all the illusions all the twisted thoughts all the insane attacks the fury the vengeance and betrayal that were made to keep the guilt in place so that the world could rise from it and keep it hidden its shadow rises to the surface enough to hold its most external manifestation manifestations in darkness and to bring despair and loneliness to it and keep it joyless yet its intensity is veiled by its heavy coverings and kept apart from what was made to keep it hidden the body cannot see this for the body arose from this for its protection which depends on keeping it not seen the body's eyes will never look on it yet they will see what it dictates the body will remain guilt's messenger and it will act as it directs as long as you believe that guilt is real there's the key as long as there's a belief as long as there's any belief an unconscious believes that guilt is real you're going to see the witnesses for the belief that guilt is real and when you forgive you free your mind of the belief in witnesses and you're no longer affected by any witnesses of the world for the reality of guilt is the illusion that seems to make it heavy and opaque impenetrable and a real foundation for the ego's thought system its thinness and transparency are not apparent until you see the light behind it and then you see it as a fragile veil before the light this heavy seeming barrier this artificial floor that looks like rock is like a bank of low dark clouds that seem to be a solid wall before the sun its impenetrable appearance is wholly an illusion it gives way softly to the mountaintops that rise above it and it has no power at all to hold back anyone willing to climb above it and see the sun it is not strong enough to stop a button's fall nor hold a feather well it's fog nothing can rest upon it for it is but an illusion of a foundation try but to touch it and it disappears attempt to grasp it and your hands hold nothing yet in this cloud bank it is easy to see a whole world rising a solid mountain range a lake a city all rise in your imagination and from the clouds the messengers of your perception return to you assuring you that it is there figures stand out and move about actions seem real informs appear and shift from loveliness to the grotesque and back and forth they go as long as you would play the game of children's make believe yet however long you play it and regardless of how much imagination you bring to it you do not confuse it with the world below nor seek to make it real so should it be with the dark clouds of guilt no more impenetrable and no more substantial you will not bruise yourself against them in traveling through let your guide teach you their unsubstantial nature as he leads you past them for beneath them is a world of light where we're on they cast no shadows their shadows lie upon the world beyond them still further from the light yet from them to the light their shadows cannot fall this world of light this circle of brightness is the real world where guilt meets with forgiveness here the world outside has seen anew without the shadow of guilt upon it here are you forgiven for here you have forgiven everyone here is the new perception where everything is bright and shining with innocence washed in the waters of forgiveness and cleansed of every evil thought you laid upon it here there is no attack upon the son of god and you are welcome here is your innocence waiting to clothe you and protect you and make you ready for the final step in the journey inward here are the dark and heavy garments of guilt laid by and gently replaced by purity and love whoa okay that is taking us to a world of light the real world so here's our next passage this one is from chapter 29 section 5 the changeless dwelling place there is a place in you where the this whole world has been forgotten where no memory of sin and of illusion lingers still there is a place in you which time has left and echoes of eternity are heard there is a resting place so still no sound except to him to heaven rises up to gladden god the father and the son where both abide they are remembered both and where they are is heaven and is peace where both abide they are remembered god and the father god the son there we go that's heaven think not that you can change their dwelling place for your identity abides in them and where they are forever must you be the changelessness of heaven is in you so deep within that nothing in this world but passes by unnoticed and unseen good sense let's read that one again the changelessness of heaven is in you so deep within that nothing in this world but passes by unnoticed and unseen the still infinity of endless peace surrounds you gently in its soft embrace so strong and quiet tranquil in the might of its creator nothing can intrude upon the sacred son of god within here is the role the holy spirit gives to you who wait upon the son of god and would behold him awaken and be glad he is part of you and you have him because he is in his father's son and not for any purpose you may see in him nothing is asked of you but to accept the changeless and eternal that abide in him for your identity is there the peace in you can but be found in him and every thought of love you offer him but brings you nearer to your awakening to peace eternal and to endless joy so wow this lesson and these support passages from the text are really bringing it home really really really bringing it home that that that there is no world as we're told in lesson 132 and there is no world apart from what you think and so that means that it's a perceptual hallucination and what seems to be the experience of the human being is a private world that just is emanating and drawing forth grievances and that's the purpose the ego made the world for the purpose of drawing forth grievances the world has no other purpose Jesus says the world was made in hatred okay there it is it's made in hatred for the purpose of accumulating grievances and Jesus says he told us in the lesson that this bartering back and forth in exchange of grievances makes the grievances seem to grow stronger and there's no happiness there's no peace there's no rest when this strange bartering is going on so what we're seeing is this is why it's so important to really really practice these lessons to have the experience not the concept of spirituality not the the self concept of spirituality but the actual experience of joy that comes from seeing there is no world apart from what you think and if that's true if there is no world apart from what you think and you think the thoughts of the Holy Spirit and Jesus which is forgiveness then you see a forgiven world you have to there's no other way that's how the mind works if you pluck all the enemies and all the offenses and all the grievances from your mind you know Jesus is in the song of prayer I think they ask him about what about prayers for enemies and he says you know if you if you perceive that you have enemies you have great need of forgiveness and he's saying pluck the offense from your mind pluck the ego attack thought pluck the grievance from your mind with the Holy Spirit's help Jesus Holy Spirit I'm gonna pluck and quickly give it to you and it's gone because in truth attack is never real attack is never real injustice is never real mistreatment is never real a world of falsity cannot be believed in you know basically Jesus was saying would God create a world in which he could kill himself that's a great question from Jesus in the in the lesson today that's that's the question that Jesus asks would God create a world in which he could kill himself I think not I think the God of love would not have any business creating a world where he could kill himself that would be insanity and God's not insane God is love joy happiness so we start to realize that whenever there's a perception of grievance it's an individual private thought private world perception and it can not be shared you can attempt to share it but it doesn't go well when you try to share it it kind of blows up in your face when you attempt to share a false thought if you try to share a grievance or a dark thought or a thought that God didn't create you perceive the attack thought because the attack thought would just be holding on to a grievance in the mind and then you perceive witnesses sometimes you'll perceive lots of witnesses if you really are holding tight to the grievance to the false belief in ego and wishes of the ego the idle thoughts of the ego on the altar of your mind if you hold on to that you may see legion lots lots and lots of false witnesses but but they aren't true because the sharing of grievances is the sharing of nothing gossip Jesus says well it's not real and and you're not subject to it you're not vulnerable to it you are the Christ and the Christ never made a mistake the Christ is spirit and that identification with that Christ that's where the salvation is that's that's the happiness the salvation of the world comes from me and means that when you accept the Christ in your mind as being real and true then the whole world is saved and and the whole world is healed Jesus says legions upon legions will arise and accept the gift of healing when your mind when the mind accepts the gift of healing so wow we've got a big group today 250 people are on live and we are rejoicing in the love of God today we are in absolute joy and ecstasy and being lined up with our Creator so i wish you happy holy day i wish you innocence i wish you freedom i wish you peace and love and joy and i wish you all of that in the daily lesson today i will there be light amen all glory to