 We continue today with chapter 24. The Christ in you. The Christ in you is very still. He looks on what he loves and knows it as himself. And thus does he rejoice at what he sees, because he knows that it is one with him and one with his father. Specialness too takes joy in what it sees, although it is not true. Yet what you seek for is a source of joy as you conceive it. What you wish is true for you, nor is it possible that you can wish for something and lack faith that it is so. Wishing makes real as surely as does will create. The power of a wish upholds illusions as strongly as does love extend itself, except that one deludes the other heals. There is no dream of specialness, however hidden or disguised, the form. However lovely it may seem to be, however much it delicately offers the hope of peace and the escape from pain, in which you suffer not your condemnation. In dreams effect and cause are interchanged, for here the maker of the dream believes that what he made is happening to him. He does not realize he picked a thread from here, a scrap from there, and wove a picture out of nothing, for the parts do not belong together, and the whole contributes nothing to the parts to give them meaning. Where could your peace arise but from forgiveness? The Christ in you looks only on the truth, and sees no condemnation that could need forgiveness. He is at peace because he sees no sin. Identify with him and what is he that you have not. He is your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet. How gentle are the sights he sees, the sounds he hears, how beautiful his hand that holds his brothers, how lovingly he walks beside him, showing him what can be seen and heard, and where he will see nothing, and there is no sound to hear. Yet let your specialness direct his way, and you will follow. And both will walk in danger each intent in the dark forest of the sightless, unlit but by the shifting tiny gleams that spark an instant from the fireflies of sin and then go out to lead the other to a nameless precipice and hurl him over it. For what can specialness delight in but to kill? What does it seek for but the sight of death? Where does it lead but to destruction? Yet think not that it looked upon your brother first, nor hated him before it hated you. The sin its eyes behold in him and love to look upon its saw in you, and looks on still with joy. Yet it is joy to look upon decay and madness and believe this crumbling thing with flesh already loosened from the bone and the sightless holes for eyes is like yourself. Rejoice, you have no eyes with which to see, no ears to hear, and listen, no hands to hold nor feet to guide. Be glad that only Christ can lend you his while you have need of them. They are illusions too as much as yours and yet because they serve a different purpose the strength their purpose holds is given them and what they see and hear and hold and lead is given light that you may lead as you were led. The Christ in you is very still, he knows where you are going and he leads you there in gentleness and blessing all the way. His love for God replaces all the fear you thought you saw within yourself. His holiness shows you himself in him whose hand you hold and whom you lead to him and what you see is like yourself for what but Christ is there to see and hear and love and follow home. He looked upon you first but recognized that you were not complete and so he sought for your completion in each living thing that he beholds and loves and seeks it still that each might offer you the love of God. Yet is he quiet for he knows that love is in you now and safely held in you by that same hand that holds your brothers in your own. Christ's hand holds all his brothers in himself. He gives them vision for their sightless eyes and sings to them of heaven that their ears may hear no more the sound of battle and of death. He reaches through them holding out his hand that everyone may bless all living things and see their holiness and he rejoices that these sights are yours to look upon with him and share his joy. His perfect lack of specialness he offers you that you may save all living things from death receiving from each one the gift of life that your forgiveness offers to yourself. The sight of Christ is all there is to see the song of Christ is all there is to hear the hand of Christ is all there is to hold there is no journey but to walk with him. You who would be content with specialness and seek salvation in a war with love consider this the holy lord of heaven has himself come down to you to offer you your own completion. What is his is yours because in your completion is his own. He who willed not to be without his son could never will that you be brotherless and would he give a brother unto you except he be as perfect as yourself and just as like to him in holiness as you must be. There must be doubt before there can be conflict and every doubt must be about yourself. Christ has no doubt and from his certainty his quiet comes. He will exchange his certainty for all your doubts if you agree that he is one with you and that this oneness is endless timeless and within your grasp because your hands are his. He is within you yet he walks beside you and before leading the way that he must go to find himself complete. His quietness becomes your certainty and where is doubt when certainty has come and from the workbook lesson 188 the peace of god is shining in me now why wait for heaven those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes the light is in them now enlightenment is but a recognition not a change at all light is not of the world yet you who bear the light in you are alien here as well the light came with you from your native home and stayed with you because it is your own it is the only thing you bring with you from him who is your source it shines in you because it lights your home and leads you back to where it came from and you are home this light cannot be lost why wait to find it in the future or believe it has been lost already or was never there it can so easily be looked upon that arguments which prove it is not there become ridiculous who can deny the presence of what he beholds in him it is not difficult to look within for there all vision starts there is no sight be it of dreams or from a truer source that is not but the shadow of the scene through inward vision there perception starts and there it ends it has no source but this the peace of god is shining in you now and from your heart extends around the world it pauses to caress each living thing and leaves a blessing with it that remains forever and forever what it gives must be eternal it removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless it brings renewal to all tired hearts and lights all vision as it passes by all of its gifts are given everyone and everyone unites and giving thanks to you who give and you who have received the shining in your mind reminds the world of what it has forgotten and the world restores the memory to you as well from you salvation radiates with gifts beyond all measure given and returned to you the giver of the gift does god himself give thanks and in his blessing does the light in you shine brighter adding to the gifts you have to offer to the world the peace of god can never be contained who recognizes it within himself must give it and the means for giving it are in his understanding he forgives because he recognized the truth in him the peace of god is shining in you now and in all living things in quietness is it acknowledged universally for what your inward vision looks upon is your perception of the universe sit quietly and close your eyes the light within you is sufficient it alone has power to give the gift of sight to you exclude the outer world and let your thoughts fly to the peace within they know the way for honest thoughts untainted by the dream of worldly things outside yourself become the holy messengers of god himself these thoughts you think with him they recognize their home and they point surely to their source where god the father and god the son are one god's peace is shining on them but they must remain with you as well for they were born within your mind as yours was born in gods they lead you back to peace from where they came but to remind you how you must return they heed your father's voice when you refuse to listen and they urge you gently to accept his word for what you are instead of fantasies and shadows they remind you that you are the co-creator of all things that live for as the peace of god is shining in you it must shine on them we practice coming nearer to the light in us today we take our wandering thoughts and gently bring them back to where they fall in line with all the thoughts we share with god we will not let them stray we let the light within our minds direct them to come home we have betrayed them ordering that they depart from us but now we call them back and wash them clean of strange desires and disordered wishes we restore to them the holiness of their inheritance thus are our minds restored with them and we acknowledge that the peace of god still shines in us and from us to all living things that share our life we will forgive them all absolving all the world from what we thought it did to us for it is we who make the world as we would have it now we choose that it be innocent devoid of sin and open to salvation and we lay our saving blessing on it as we say the peace of god is shining in me now let all things shine upon me in that peace and let me bless them with the light in me Amen