 We continue today with Chapter 25, The Savior from the Dark. Is it not evident that what the body's eyes perceive fills you with fear? Perhaps you think you find a hope of satisfaction there. Perhaps you fancy to attain some peace and satisfaction in the world as you perceive it. Yet it must be evident the outcome does not change. Despite your hopes and fancies, always does despair result. And there is no exception, nor will there ever be. The only value that the past can hold is that you learn it gave you no rewards which you would want to keep. For only thus will you be willing to relinquish it and have it gone forever. Is it not strange that you should cherish still some hope of satisfaction from the world you see? In no respect, at any time or place, has anything but fear and guilt been your reward. How long is needed for you to realize the chance of change in this respect is hardly worth delaying change that might result in better outcome. For one thing is sure, the way you see and long have seen gives no support to base your future hopes and no suggestions of success at all. To place your hopes where no hope lies must make you hopeless. It is this hopelessness your choice while you would seek for hope where none is ever found. Is it not also true that you have found some hope apart from this, some glimmering, inconstant, wavering, yet dimly seen, that hopefulness is warranted on grounds that are not in this world? And yet your hope that they may still be here prevents you still from giving up the hopeless and unrewarding task you set yourself. Can it make sense to hold the fixed belief that there is reason to uphold pursuit of what has always failed on grounds that it will suddenly succeed and bring what it has never brought before? Its past has failed. Be glad that it is gone within your mind to darken what is there. Take not the form for content, for the form is but a means for content, and the frame is but a means to hold the picture up so that it can be seen. A frame that hides the picture has no purpose. It cannot be a frame if it is what you see. Without the picture is the frame without its meaning. Its purpose is to set the picture off and not itself. Who hangs an empty frame upon a wall and stands before it, deep in reverence, as if a masterpiece were there to see? Yet if you see your brother as a body, it is but this you do. The masterpiece that God has set within this frame is all there is to see. The body holds it for a while without obscuring it in any way. Yet what God has created needs no frame. For what He has created, He supports and frames within Himself. His masterpiece He offers you to see. And would you rather see the frame instead of this and see the picture not at all? The Holy Spirit is the frame God set around the part of Him that you would see as separate. Yet its frame is joined to its creator, one with Him and one with His masterpiece. This is its purpose, and you do not make the frame into the picture when you choose to see it in its place. The frame that God has given it but serves His purpose, not yours, apart from His. It is your separate purpose that obscures the picture and cherishes the frame instead of it. Yet God has set His masterpiece within a frame that will endure forever when yours has crumbled into dust. But think you not the picture is destroyed in any way. What God creates is safe from all corruption, unchanged and perfect in eternity. Accept God's frame instead of yours and you will see the masterpiece. Look at its loveliness and understand the mind that thought it, not flesh and bones, but in a frame as lovely as itself. Its holiness lights up the sinlessness, the frame of darkness hides, and casts a veil of light across the picture's face, which but reflects the light that shines from it to its creator. Think not this face was ever darkened because you saw it in a frame of death. God kept it safe that you might look on it and see the holiness that He has given it. Within the darkness see the Savior from the dark and understand your brother as his father's mind shows him to you. He will step forth from darkness as you look in him and you will see the dark no more. The darkness touched him not nor you who brought him forth for you to look upon. His sinlessness but pictures yours. His gentleness becomes your strength and both will gladly look within and see the holiness that must be there because of what you looked upon in him. He is the frame in which your holiness is set and what God gave him must be given you. However much he overlooks the masterpiece in him and sees only a frame of darkness, it is still your only function to behold in him what he sees not. And in this seeing is the vision shared that looks on Christ instead of seeing death. How could the Lord of heaven not be glad if you appreciate his masterpiece? What could he do but offer thanks to you who love his Son as he does? Would he not make known to you his love if you but share his praise of what he loves? God cherishes creation as the perfect Father that he is and so his joy is made complete when any part of him joins in his praise to share his joy. This brother is his perfect gift to you and he is glad and thankful when you thank his perfect Son for being what he is and all his thanks and gladness shine on you who would complete his joy along with him. And thus is yours completed. Not one ray of darkness can be seen by those who will will to make their Father's happiness complete. And theirs along with his the gratitude of God himself is freely offered to everyone who shares his purpose. It is not his will to be alone and neither is it yours. Forgive your brother and you cannot separate yourself from him nor from his Father. You need no forgiveness for the holy pure have never sinned. Give then what he has given you that you may see his Son as one and thank his Father as he thanks you. Nor believe that all his praise is given not to you for what you give is his and giving it you learn to understand his gift to you and give to the Holy Spirit what he offers unto the Father and the Son alike. Nothing has power over you except his will and yours which but extends his will. It was for this you were created and your brother with you at one with you. You and your brother are the same as God himself is one and not divided in his will. And you must have one purpose since he gave the same to both of you. His will is brought together as you join in will that you be made complete by offering completion to your brother. See not in him the sinfulness he sees but give him honor that you may esteem yourself in him. To you and your brother is given the power of salvation that escape from darkness into light be yours to share that you may see as one what never has been separate nor apart from all God's love as given equally. And from the workbook lesson 192 I have a function God would have me fill. It is your Father's holy will that you complete himself and that yourself shall be his sacred Son forever pure as he of love created and in love preserved extending love creating in his name forever one with God and with yourself. Yet what can such a function mean within a world of envy hatred and attack therefore you have a function in the world in its own terms for who can understand the language far beyond his simple grasp. Forgiveness represents your function here. It is not God's creation for it is the means by which untruth can be undone. And who would pardon heaven yet on earth you need the means to let illusions go. Creation merely waits for your return to be acknowledged not to be complete. Creation cannot even be conceived of in this world. It has no meaning here. Forgiveness is the closest it can come to earth. For being heaven-born it has no form at all. Yet God created one who has the power to translate and form the holy formless. What he makes are dreams but of a kind so close to waking that the light of day already shines in them. And eyes already opening behold the joyful sights their offerings contain. Forgiveness gently looks upon all things unknown in heaven and sees them disappear and leaves the world a clean and unmarked slate on which the word of God can now replace the senseless symbols written there before. Forgiveness is the means by which the fear of death is overcome because it holds no fierce attraction now and guilt is gone. Forgiveness lets the body be perceived as what it is. A simple teaching aid to be laid by when learning is complete but hardly changing him who learns at all. The mind without the body cannot make mistakes. It cannot think that it will die nor be the prey of merciless attack. Anger becomes impossible and where is terror then? What fears could still assail those who have lost the source of all attack, the core of anguish and the seat of fear? Only forgiveness can relieve the mind of thinking that the body is its home. Only forgiveness can restore the peace that God intended for his holy Son. Only forgiveness can persuade the Son to look again upon his holiness. With anger gone you will indeed perceive that. For Christ's vision and the gift of sight no sacrifice was asked and only pain was lifted from a sick and tortured mind. Is this unwelcome? Is it to be feared? Or is it to be hoped for met with thanks and joyously accepted? We are one and therefore give up nothing but we have indeed been given everything by God. Yet do we need forgiveness to perceive that this is so? Without its kindly light we grope in darkness using reason but to justify our rage and our attack. Our understanding is so limited that what we think we understand is but confusion born of error. We are lost in midst of shifting dreams and fearful thoughts. Our eyes shut tight against the light. Our minds engaging and it will worshiping what is not there. Who can be born again in Christ but him who has forgiven everyone he sees or thinks of or imagines? Who could be set free while he imprisons anyone? But jailer is not free for he is bound together with his prisoner. He must be sure that he does not escape. And so he spends his time in keeping watch on him. The bars that limit him become the world in which his jailer lives along with him. And it is on his freedom that the way to liberty depends for both of them. Therefore hold no one prisoner. Release instead of binds for thus are you made free. The way is simple. Every time you feel a stab of anger realize you hold a sword above your head and it will fall or be averted as you choose to be condemned or free. Thus does each one who seems to tempt you to be angry represent your savior from the prison house of death. And so you owe him thanks instead of pain. Be merciful today. The son of God deserves your mercy. It is he who asked that you accept the way to freedom now. Deny him not. His father's love for him belongs to you. Your function here on earth is only to forgive him that you may accept him back as your identity. He is as God created him and you are what he is. Forgive him now his sins and you will see that you are one with him. Amen.