Section 4 - The Unreality of Sin

The attraction of guilt is found in sin, NOT error. Sin will be repeated, BECAUSE of this attraction. Fear can become so acute that the sin is denied the acting out, but, while the guilt REMAINS attractive, the mind will suffer, and not let go the IDEA of the sin. For guilt still calls to it, and the mind hears it and yearns for it, making it a willing captive to its sick appeal. Sin is an idea of evil that can not BE corrected, and will be forever DESIRABLE. As an ESSENTIAL part of what the ego thinks you ARE, you will ALWAYS want it. And only an AVENGER, with a mind UNLIKE your own, could stamp it out through FEAR.

The ego does not think it possible that love, NOT fear, is really called upon by sin, AND ALWAYS ANSWERS. For the ego brings sin to FEAR, demanding punishment. But punishment is but another form of guilt's protection. For what is deserving punishment, must have been REALLY DONE. Punishment is always the great preserver of sin; treating it with respect, and honoring its enormity. What must be punished, MUST BE TRUE. And what is true MUST be eternal, and WILL be repeated endlessly. For what you think is real YOU WANT, and will NOT let it go.

An ERROR, on the other hand, is NOT attractive. What you see clearly AS A MISTAKE, you WANT corrected. Sometimes a sin can be repeated over and over, with OBVIOUSLY distressing results, but WITHOUT the loss of its appeal. And suddenly you change its status from a sin to a MISTAKE. Now you will NOT repeat it; you will merely stop, and let it go. UNLESS THE GUILT REMAINS. For then, you will but change the FORM of sin, granting that it was an error, but KEEPING IT UNCORRECTABLE. This is not really a change in your perception, for it is SIN that calls for punishment, NOT error.

The Holy Spirit CANNOT punish sin. Mistakes He recognizes, and would correct them all, as God entrusted Him to do. But SIN He knows not, nor can He RECOGNIZE mistakes that cannot be corrected. For a mistake that cannot be corrected is MEANINGLESS to Him. Mistakes are FOR correction. They call for NOTHING ELSE. What calls for punishment, must call for NOTHING. Yet every mistake MUST be a call for love. What, then, is sin? What COULD it be but a mistake you would keep hidden; a call for help that you would keep UNHEARD, and thus UNANSWERED?

This One can teach you how to look on time differently, and to see BEYOND it. But NOT while you believe in sin. In error, yes, for this CAN be corrected by the mind. But sin is the belief that YOUR perception is UNCHANGEABLE, and that the MIND must ACCEPT AS TRUE what it is told THROUGH it. If it does not obey, the MIND is judged insane. The ONLY power that could CHANGE perception is thus kept impotent, held to the body by the FEAR of changed perception, which its Teacher, Who is One with it, would bring.

When you are tempted to believe that sin is real, remember this: If sin is real, both God AND YOU are not. If creation is EXTENSION, the Creator MUST have extended HIMSELF, and it is impossible that what is PART of Him is totally unlike the rest. If sin is real, God must be at war WITHIN HIMSELF. HE must be split, and torn between good and evil; partly sane and partially insane. For He must have created what wills to destroy Him, and HAS THE POWER TO DO SO. Is it not EASIER to believe that YOU have been mistaken, than to believe in this?

While you believe that YOUR reality, OR YOUR BROTHER's, is bounded by a body, you will believe in sin. While you believe that BODIES can unite, you will find guilt attractive, and believe that sin is precious. For the belief that bodies LIMIT the mind leads to a perception of the world in which the PROOF of separation seems to be everywhere. And God and His creation seem to be split apart, and overthrown. For sin would PROVE what God created holy could not prevail against it, nor remain ITSELF before the power of sin.

Sin is perceived as mightier than God, before which God HIMSELF must bow, and offer His creation to its conqueror. Is this humility, or madness? If sin were real it would forever be beyond the hope of healing. For there would be a power BEYOND God's, capable of making another will, which could attack His Will, and OVERCOME it. And give His Son a will APART from His, and STRONGER. And each part of His fragmented creation would have a DIFFERENT will OPPOSED to His, and in eternal opposition to Him AND TO EACH OTHER.

Your holy relationship has, as its purpose now, the goal of proving THIS is impossible. Heaven has smiled upon it, and the belief in sin has been uprooted in its smile of love. You SEE it still, because you do not realize that its FOUNDATION has gone. Its SOURCE has been removed, and so it can be cherished but a little while, before it vanishes. Only the habit of LOOKING for it still remains. And yet you look with Heaven's smile upon YOUR lips, and Heaven's blessing on your sight.

You will NOT see it long. For, in the NEW perception, the mind CORRECTS it when it SEEMS to be seen, and it becomes invisible. But ERRORS are quickly recognized, and quickly given to correction, to be healed, NOT hidden. YOU will be healed of sin and all its ravages, the INSTANT that you give it no power over EACH OTHER. And you will HELP each other overcome MISTAKES, by joyously RELEASING one another from the belief in sin. In the holy instant, you will see the smile of Heaven shining on BOTH of you. And you will shine upon each other, in glad acknowledgment of the grace that has been GIVEN you.

For sin will NOT prevail against a union Heaven has smiled upon. Your perception was HEALED in the holy instant Heaven gave you. Forget what you HAVE seen, and raise your eyes, in faith, to what you now CAN see. The barriers to Heaven will disappear before your holy sight. For you who were sightless have been GIVEN vision, and you CAN see. Look not for what has been REMOVED, but for the glory that has been RESTORED, for you to see. Look upon your Redeemer, and behold what He would show you in each other. And let not sin arise again, to blind your eyes. For sin would keep you separate, but your Redeemer would have you look upon each other as yourself.

Your relationship is now a temple of healing, a place where all the weary ones can come and find rest. Here is the rest that waits for all, after the journey. And it is brought NEARER to all, by your relationship. As this peace expands, from deep inside yourselves, to embrace ALL the Sonship and give it rest, it will encounter many obstacles. Some of them, YOU will try to impose. Others will seem to arise from elsewhere; from your brothers, and from various aspects of the world OUTSIDE. But peace will gently cover them, extending past, COMPLETELY unhindered.

You will NOT wait to give him this. For you will CALL to him and he will answer, RECOGNIZING in your call the call of God. And you will draw him in and give him rest, as it was given YOU. All this will you do. But the peace that already lies deeply within, must first expand and FLOW ACROSS the obstacles YOU place before it. THIS IT WILL DO. For nothing undertaken WITH the Holy Spirit, remains unfinished. You can indeed be sure of NOTHING you see OUTSIDE you, but of this you CAN be sure.

You CANNOT see the Holy Spirit, but you CAN see your brothers truly. And the light in them will show you all that you NEED to see. When the peace in you has been extended to encompass EVERYONE, the Holy Spirit's function here will be accomplished. What NEED is there for SEEING, then? When God has taken the last step Himself, the Holy Spirit will gather ALL your thanks and gratitude that you have offered Him, and lay them gently before His Creator, in the Name of His most holy Son. And the Father will ACCEPT them, in HIS Name. What need is there of seeing, in the presence of HIS gratitude?

Section 3 - The Uses of Projection

Any split in will MUST involve a rejection of part of it, and this IS the belief in separation. The wholeness of God, which IS His peace, cannot be appreciated EXCEPT by a whole mind, which recognizes the wholeness of God's creation and BY this recognition knows its Creator.

Exclusion and separation are synonymous. So are separation and dissociation. We have said before that the separation was and IS dissociation, and also that once it had occurred, projection became its main defense, or the device which KEEPS IT GOING. The reason, however, may not be as clear to you as you think. What you project you disown, and therefore DO NOT BELIEVE IS YOURS. You are therefore EXCLUDING yourself from it, by the very statement you are making that you are DIFFERENT from someone else. Since you have also judged AGAINST what you project, you attack it because you have already attacked it BY rejecting it. By doing this UNCONSCIOUSLY, you try to keep the fact that you must have attacked yourself FIRST out of awareness, and thus imagine that you have made yourself safe.

Projection will ALWAYS hurt you. It reinforces your belief in your own split mind, and its ONLY purpose is to KEEP THE SEPARATION GOING. It is solely a device of the ego to make you feel DIFFERENT from your brothers and separated FROM them. The ego justifies this on the wholly spurious grounds that it makes you seem better than they are, thus obscuring equality WITH them still further.

Projection and attack are inevitably related, because projection is ALWAYS a means of JUSTIFYING attack. Anger without projection is impossible. The ego uses projection ONLY to distort your perception of both yourself AND your brothers. It begins by excluding something you think exists in you which you do not want, and leads directly to your excluding yourself from your brothers.

But we know that there is another use of projection. Every ability of the ego has a better counterpart, because its abilities are directed by the mind, which has a better voice. The Holy Spirit, as well as the ego, utilizes projection but since their goals are opposed, so is the result. The Holy Spirit begins by perceiving YOU as perfect. KNOWING this perfection is shared, it RECOGNIZES it in others, thus strengthening it in both. Instead of anger, this arouses love FOR both because IT ESTABLISHES INCLUSION. Perceiving equality, it perceives equal needs. This invites Atonement automatically, because Atonement IS the one need which is universal.

To perceive YOURSELF in this way is the ONLY way in which you can find happiness in this world. This is because it is the acknowledgement that you are NOT in this world, and the world IS unhappy. How else can you find joy in a joyless place EXCEPT by realizing that YOU ARE NOT THERE? You cannot be ANYWHERE that God did not put you, and God created you as part of HIM. That is both WHERE you are and WHAT you are. This is COMPLETELY unalterable. It is total inclusion. You cannot change this now or ever. It is forever true. It is NOT a belief, but a fact.

Anything that God creates is as true as He is. Its truth lies only in its perfect inclusion in Him Who alone IS perfect. To deny this in any way is to deny yourself AND Him, because it is impossible to accept one without the other. The perfect equality of the Holy Spirit's perception is the counterpart of the perfect equality of God's knowing. The ego's perception has no counterpart in God, but the Holy Spirit remains the bridge between perception and knowledge. By enabling you to use perception in a way that PARALLELS knowledge, you will ultimately meet it and KNOW it.

The Holy Spirit enables you to PERCEIVE THIS WHOLENESS NOW. You can no more pray for yourselves alone than you can find joy for yourself alone. Prayer is a re-statement of INCLUSION, directed by the Holy Spirit under the laws of God. God created you to create. You cannot EXTEND His Kingdom until you KNOW of its wholeness. But thoughts begin in the mind OF THE THINKER, from which they extend outward. This is as true of God's thinking as it is of yours. Because your minds are split, you can also perceive as well as think, but perception cannot escape from the basic laws of mind. You perceive FROM your mind, and extend your perceptions outward.

Although perception of any kind is unnecessary, YOU made it and the Holy Spirit can therefore use it well. He can INSPIRE perception and lead it toward God by making it PARALLEL to God's way of thinking, and thus guaranteeing their ultimate meeting. This convergence SEEMS to be far in the future ONLY because your mind is NOT in perfect alignment with the idea, and therefore DOES NOT WANT IT NOW. The Holy Spirit USES time, but does NOT believe in it. Coming from God, He uses EVERYTHING for good, but does not BELIEVE in what is not true.

Since the Holy Spirit IS in your minds, then your minds MUST be able to believe ONLY what is true. The Holy Spirit can speak only for this, because he speaks for God. He tells you to return your whole mind to God, BECAUSE IT HAS NEVER LEFT HIM. If it has never left Him, you need only perceive it AS IT IS to BE returned. The full awareness of the Atonement, then, is the recognition that the separation NEVER OCCURRED. The ego CANNOT prevail against this, because it is an explicit statement that the EGO never occurred.

The ego can accept the idea that RETURN is necessary, because it can so easily make the idea seem so difficult. But the Holy Spirit tells you that even RETURN is unnecessary, because what never happened CANNOT involve ANY problem. But it does NOT follow that YOU cannot make the idea of return both necessary AND difficult. God made nothing either necessary OR difficult. But YOU have perceived both AS IF they were part of His perfect creations. Yet it is surely clear that the perfect NEED nothing, and CANNOT experience perfection as a difficult accomplishment because that is what they ARE.

The difference between the ego's use of projection and projection as the Holy Spirit uses it is very simple. The ego projects to EXCLUDE and therefore to deceive. The Holy Spirit projects by RECOGNIZING HIMSELF in EVERY mind, and thus perceives them as ONE. Nothing conflicts in this perception, because what the Holy Spirit perceives IS the same. Wherever He looks He sees Himself, and because He is UNITED, He offers the whole Kingdom always. This is the one message which God gave TO Him, and for which He must speak because that is what He IS. The peace of God lies in that message, and so the peace of God lies in YOU.

The great peace of the Kingdom shines in your mind forever, but it must shine OUTWARD to make YOU aware of it. The Holy Spirit was given you with perfect impartiality, and only by perceiving Him impartially can you perceive Him at all. The ego is legion, but the Holy Spirit is one. No darkness abides ANYWHERE in the Kingdom, so your part is only to allow no darkness to abide in your OWN mind. This alignment with Light is unlimited, because it is in alignment with the Light of the world. Each of us IS the Light of the world, and by joining our minds IN this Light, we proclaim the Kingdom of God together and AS ONE.

Section 8 - The Consistency of Means and End

Who sees a brother's body has laid a JUDGMENT on him, and sees him not. He does not REALLY see him as sinful; he does not see him at all. In the darkness of sin, he is INVISIBLE. He can but be IMAGINED in the darkness, and it is here that the illusions you hold about him are NOT held up to his reality. Here are illusions and reality kept SEPARATED. Here are illusions NEVER brought to truth, and ALWAYS hidden from it. And here, in darkness, is your brother's reality IMAGINED as a body, in unholy relationships with other bodies, serving the cause of sin an instant, before he dies.

There is indeed a difference between this vain imagining and vision. The difference lies not in THEM, but in their purpose. Both are but MEANS, each one appropriate to the end for which it is employed. Neither can serve the purpose of the other, for each one is a CHOICE of purpose, employed on its behalf. Either is meaningless WITHOUT the end for which it was intended, nor is it valued as a SEPARATE thing, APART from the intention. The means seem real because the GOAL is valued. And judgment HAS no value unless the GOAL is sin. The body can NOT be looked upon EXCEPT through judgment. To see the body is the sign that you LACK vision, and have DENIED the means the Holy Spirit offers you, to serve HIS purpose.

How can a holy relationship achieve its purpose through the means of sin? Judgment you taught YOURSELF; vision is learned from Him Who would UNDO your teaching. HIS vision cannot see the body, BECAUSE IT CANNOT LOOK ON SIN. And thus it leads you to reality. Your holy brother, sight of whom is YOUR release, is no illusion. Attempt to see him not in darkness, for your imaginings about him WILL seem real there. You CLOSED your eyes to shut him out. Such was your PURPOSE, and while this purpose seems to have ANY meaning, the means for its attainment will be evaluated as WORTH the seeing, and so you will NOT see.

Your question should not be, "How can I see my brother without the body?" Ask only, "Do I REALLY wish to see him sinless?" And, as you ask, forget not that HIS sinlessness is YOUR escape from fear. Salvation is the Holy Spirit's goal. The means is vision. For what the seeing look upon IS sinless. No-one who loves can judge, and what he sees is FREE of condemnation. And what he sees he did NOT make, for it was GIVEN him to see, as was the vision which made his seeing possible.

Chapter 26 - Are "Psychic" Powers Desirable?

The answer to this question is much like the preceding one. There are, of course, no "unnatural" powers, and it is obviously merely an appeal to magic to make up a power that does not exist. It is equally obvious, however, that each individual has many abilities of which he is unaware. As his awareness increases, he may well develop abilities that seem quite startling to him. Yet nothing that he can do can compare even in the slightest with the glorious surprise of remembering Who he is. Let all his learning and all his effort be directed toward this one great final surprise, and he will not be content to be delayed by the little ones that may come to him on the way.

The seemingly new abilities that may be gathered on the way can be very helpful. Given to the Holy Spirit, and used under His direction, they are very valuable teaching aids. To this, the question of how they arise is irrelevant. The only important consideration is how they are used. Taken as ends in themselves, no matter how this is done, will delay progress. Nor does their value lie in proving anything; achievements from the past, unusual attunement with the "unseen," or special favors from God. God gives no special favors, and no-one has any powers that are not available to everyone. Only by tricks of magic are special powers "demonstrated."

Nothing that is genuine is used to deceive. The Holy Spirit is incapable of deception, and He can use only genuine abilities. What is used for magic is useless to Him, but what He uses cannot be used for magic. There is, however, a particular appeal in unusual abilities which can be curiously tempting. Here are strengths which the Holy Spirit wants and needs. Yet the ego sees in these same strengths an opportunity to glorify itself. Strengths turned to weakness are tragedy indeed. Yet what is not given to the Holy Spirit must be given to weakness, for what is withheld from love is given to fear, and will be fearful in consequence.

Even those who no longer value the material things of the world may still be deceived by "psychic" powers. As investment has been withdrawn from the world's material gifts the ego has been seriously threatened. It may still be strong enough to rally under this new temptation to win back strength by guile. Many have not seen through the ego's defenses here, although they are not particularly subtle. Yet, given a remaining wish to be deceived, deception is made easy. Now the "power" is no longer a genuine ability, and cannot be used dependably. It is almost inevitable that, unless the individual changes his mind about its purpose, he will bolster its uncertainties with increasing deception.

Any ability that anyone develops has the potentiality for good. To this there is no exception. And the more unusual and unexpected the power, the greater its potential usefulness. Salvation has need of all abilities, for what the world would destroy the Holy Spirit would restore. "Psychic" abilities have been used to call upon the devil, which merely means to strengthen the ego. Yet here is also a great channel of hope and healing in the Holy Spirit's service. Those who have developed "psychic" powers have merely let some of the limitations they laid upon their minds be lifted. It can be but greater limitations they lay upon themselves if they utilize their increased freedom for further imprisonment. The Holy Spirit needs these gifts, and those who offer them to Him and Him alone go with Christ's gratitude upon their hearts, and His holy sight not far behind.

Section 8 - The New Interpretation

Would God have left the meaning of the world to YOUR interpretation? If He had, it HAS no meaning. For it cannot be that meaning changes constantly, and yet is true. The Holy Spirit looks upon the world as with ONE purpose, changelessly established. And NO situation can affect its aim, but MUST be in accord with it. For ONLY if its aim could change with every situation could each one be OPEN to interpretation which is different every time you think of it. You ADD an element into the script you write for every minute in the day, and all that happens now means something else. You TAKE AWAY another element, and every meaning shifts accordingly.

What do your scripts reflect except your plans for what the day SHOULD be? And thus you judge disaster and success, advance, retreat, and gain and loss. These judgments all are made according to the roles the script assigns. The fact they have no meaning in themselves is DEMONSTRATED by the ease with which these labels change with other judgments made on different aspects of experience. And then, in looking back, you think you see ANOTHER meaning in what went before. What have you really done, except to show there WAS no meaning there? And YOU assigned a meaning in the light of goals that change, with EVERY meaning shifting as they change.

Only a CONSTANT purpose can endow events with stable meaning. But it must ACCORD ONE MEANING TO THEM ALL. If they are given DIFFERENT meanings, it MUST mean that they reflect but different purposes, and this is ALL the meaning that they have. Can this BE meaning? Can confusion BE what meaning means? Perception CANNOT be in constant flux, and make allowance for stability of meaning ANYWHERE. Fear is a judgment NEVER justified. Its presence has no meaning but to show you wrote a fearful script, and are afraid accordingly. But NOT because the thing you fear has fearful meaning in itself.

A common purpose is the ONLY means whereby perception can be stabilized, and ONE interpretation given to the world and all experiences here. In this shared purpose is one meaning shared by everyone and everything you see. You do not have to judge, for you have learned one meaning has been GIVEN everything, and you are GLAD to see it everywhere. It cannot change BECAUSE you would perceive it everywhere, unchanged by circumstance. And so you OFFER it to all events, and LET them offer you stability. Escape from judgment simply lies in this; - All things have but one purpose, which you share with all the world. And nothing IN the world can BE opposed to it, for it belongs TO everything, as it belongs to you.

In SINGLE purpose is the end of all ideas of sacrifice, which MUST assume a DIFFERENT purpose for the one who gains and him who loses. There could BE no thought of sacrifice apart from this idea. And it IS this idea of different goals which makes perception shift and meaning change. In one united goal does this become impossible, for your AGREEMENT makes interpretation stabilize and last. How can communication REALLY be established, while the symbols which are used mean different things? The Holy Spirit's goal gives ONE interpretation, meaningful to you AND to your brother. Thus can you communicate with him, and he with you. In symbols which you BOTH can understand, the sacrifice of meaning is undone.

All sacrifice entails the LOSS of your ability to see relationships AMONG events. And, looked at SEPARATELY, they HAVE no meaning. For there is no light by which they can be seen and understood. They HAVE no purpose. And what they are FOR cannot BE seen. In any thought of loss there IS no meaning. No-one has agreed with you on what it means. It is a part of a distorted script, which cannot be interpreted with meaning. It must be forever unintelligible. This is NOT communication. Your dark dreams are but the senseless, isolated scripts you write in sleep. Look not to separate dreams for meaning. ONLY dreams of pardon can be shared. They mean the same for BOTH of you.

Chapter 3 - The Ego - The Miracle

Illusions will not last. Their death is sure and this alone is certain in their world. It is the ego's world because of this. What is the ego? But a dream of what you really are. A thought you are apart from your Creator and a wish to be what He created not. It is a thing of madness, not reality at all. A name for namelessness is all it is. A symbol of impossibility; a choice for options that do not exist. We call it that to help us understand that it is nothing but an ancient thought that what is made has immortality. But what could come of this except a dream which, like all dreams, could only die?

What is the ego? Nothingness, but in a form that seems like something. In a world of form the ego cannot be denied for it alone seems real. How could God's Son as He created him abide in form or in a world of form? Who asks you to define the ego and explain how it arose can be but he who thinks it real, and seeks by definition to ensure that its illusive nature is concealed behind the words that seem to make it so.

There is no definition for a lie that serves to make it true. Nor can there be a truth that lies conceal effectively. The ego's unreality is not denied by words nor is its meaning clear because its nature seems to have a form. Who can define the undefinable? And yet there is an answer even here.

We cannot really make a definition for what the ego is, but we CAN say what it is not. And this is shown to us with perfect clarity. It is from this that we deduce all that the ego is. Look at its opposite and you can see the only answer that is meaningful.

The ego's opposite in every way,--in origin, effect and consequence--we call a miracle. And here we find all that is not the ego in the world. Here is the ego's opposite and here alone we look on what the ego was. For here we see all that it seemed to do, and cause and its effects must still be one.

What is a MIRACLE? A dream as well. But look at all the aspects of THIS dream, and you will never question any more. Look at the kindly world you see stretched forth before you as you walk in gentleness. Look at the helpers all along the way you travel, happy in the hope of Heaven and the certainty of peace. And look an instant, too, on what you left behind at last and finally passed by.

This was the ego -- all the cruel hate, the need for vengeance and the cries of pain, the fear of dying and the urge to kill, the brotherless illusion and the self that seemed alone in all the universe. This terrible mistake about yourself the miracle corrects as gently as a loving mother sings her child to rest. Is not a song like this what you would hear? Would it not answer all you thought to ask, and even make the question meaningless?

Your questions have no answer, being made to still God's Voice, which asks of everyone one question only:

"Are you ready yet to help Me save the world?"

Ask this instead of what the ego is, and you will see a sudden brightness cover up the world the ego made. No miracle is now withheld from anyone. The world is saved from what you thought it was. And what it is, is wholly uncondemned and wholly pure.

Section 7 - Freedom and the Holy Spirit

Do you want freedom of the body, or of the mind? For both you cannot have. Which do you value? Which is your goal? For one you see as means; the other, end. And one must serve the other, and LEAD to its predominance, increasing ITS importance by DIMINISHING its own. Means serve the end, and as the end is reached, the value of the means decreases, and is eclipsed entirely when they are recognized as functionless. No-one but yearns for freedom, and tries to find it, but he will seek for it where he believes it IS, and CAN be found. He will believe it possible of mind OR body, and he will make the other SERVE his choice, as means to find it.

Where freedom of the BODY has been chosen, the mind is used as MEANS, whose value lies in its ability to contrive ways to achieve the body's freedom. Yet freedom of the body HAS no meaning. And so the mind is DEDICATED to serve illusions. This is a situation SO contradictory and SO impossible that anyone who chooses this has NO idea of what is valuable. Yet even in this confusion, so profound it cannot BE described, the Holy Spirit waits in gentle patience, as certain of the outcome as He is sure of His Creator's love. He knows this mad decision was made by one as dear to His Creator as Love is to Itself.

Be not disturbed at all to think how He can change the role of means and end so easily in what God loves, and would have free forever. But be you, rather, grateful that YOU can be the means to serve His end. This is the ONLY service which leads to freedom. To serve THIS end, the body MUST be perceived as sinless, BECAUSE the goal is sinlessness. The LACK of contradiction makes the soft transition from means to end as easy as is the shift from hate to gratitude before forgiving eyes. You WILL be sanctified by one another, using your bodies ONLY to serve the sinless. And it will be IMPOSSIBLE for you to hate what serves what you would HEAL.

This holy relationship, lovely in its innocence, mighty in strength, and blazing with a light far brighter than the sun which lights the sky YOU see, is chosen of your Father as a means for His Own plan. Be thankful that it serves yours not at all. Nothing entrusted to it can BE misused. And nothing given it but WILL be used. This holy relationship has the power to heal ALL pain, REGARDLESS of its form. Neither of you alone can serve at all. Only in your JOINT will does healing lie. For here YOUR healing is, and here will YOU accept Atonement. And in your healing IS the Sonship healed, BECAUSE your wills are joined.

Before a holy relationship, there IS no sin. The FORM of error is no longer seen. And reason, joined with love, looks quietly on ALL confusion, observing merely, "this was a mistake." And then the same Atonement YOU accepted in YOUR relationship, CORRECTS the error, and lays a part of Heaven in its place. How blessed are you, who let this gift be given! Each part of Heaven that you bring, is given YOU. And every empty place in Heaven that you fill again with the Eternal Light YOU bring, shines now on YOU. The means of sinlessness can know no fear, because they carry ONLY love with them.

Children of peace, the light HAS come to you. The light you bring you do NOT recognize, and yet you will remember. Who can deny HIMSELF the vision that he brings to others? And who would fail to recognize a gift he let be laid in Heaven through HIMSELF? The gentle service that you give the Holy Spirit IS service to yourself. You who are now HIS means must love all that He loves. And what you bring is YOUR remembrance of everything that is eternal. No trace of anything in time can long remain in minds that serve the timeless. And NO illusion can disturb the peace of a relationship which has become the MEANS of peace.

When you have looked upon each other with COMPLETE forgiveness, from which NO error is excluded and NOTHING kept hidden, what mistake can there be ANYWHERE you can NOT overlook? What form of suffering could BLOCK your sight, preventing you from seeing PAST it? And what illusion COULD there be you will NOT recognize as a mistake; a shadow through which you walk COMPLETELY undismayed? God would let NOTHING interfere with those whose wills are His. And they will RECOGNIZE their wills are His, BECAUSE they serve His Will. AND SERVE IT WILLINGLY. How can it NOT be theirs? And COULD remembrance of what they are be long delayed?

You will see your value through each other's eyes, and each one is released as he beholds his Savior IN PLACE of the attacker who he THOUGHT was there. Through this releasing is the world released. This is YOUR part in bringing peace. For you have asked what is your function here, and have been answered. Seek not to change it, nor to substitute ANOTHER goal. This one was GIVEN you, and ONLY this. Accept this one, and serve it willingly, for what the Holy Spirit does with the gifts you give each other, to whom He offers them, and where and when, is up to Him.

He will bestow them where they are received and welcomed. He will use every one of them for peace. Nor will one little smile, or willingness to overlook the tiniest mistake, be lost to anyone. What can it be but universal blessing to look on what your Father loves with charity? EXTENSION of forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's function. Leave this to Him. Let YOUR concern be only that you give TO Him that which can BE extended. Save no dark secrets that He cannot use. But offer Him the tiny gifts He can extend forever.

He will take every one, and make of it a potent force for peace. He will withhold no blessing from it, or limit it in any way. He will join to it ALL the power that God has given Him, to make each little gift of love a source of healing for everyone. Each little gift you offer to the other lights up the world. Be not concerned with darkness; look AWAY from it, and TOWARD each other. And let the darkness be dispelled by Him Who knows the light, and lays it gently in each gentle smile of faith and confidence with which you bless each other.

On your learning depends the welfare of the world. And it is only arrogance that would DENY the power of your will. Think you the Will of God is powerLESS? Is this HUMILITY? You do not see what this belief has done. You see yourself as vulnerable, frail, and easily destroyed. And at the mercy of countless attackers more powerful than you. Let us look straight at how this error came about, for here lies buried the heavy anchor that seems to keep the fear of God in place, unmovable and solid as a rock. While this remains, so will it seem to be.

Who can attack the Son of God, and NOT attack his Father? How can God's Son be weak and frail and easily destroyed, UNLESS HIS FATHER IS? You do NOT see that EVERY sin and EVERY condemnation which you perceive and justify IS an attack upon your Father. And that is WHY it has not happened, nor COULD be real. You do not see that this is your attempt, BECAUSE you think the Father and the Son are separate. And you MUST think that they are separate, BECAUSE OF FEAR. For it SEEMS safer to attack another or yourself, than to attack the great Creator of the universe, Whose power you KNOW.

If you were one with Him, AND RECOGNIZED THIS ONENESS, you would know His power is YOURS. But you will NOT remember this, while you believe attack of ANY kind means ANYTHING. It is unjustified in ANY form, BECAUSE it has no meaning. The only way it COULD be justified is if each one of you were SEPARATE from the other, and all were separate from your Creator. For ONLY then would it be possible to attack a part of the creation WITHOUT the whole; the Son WITHOUT the Father. And to attack another, WITHOUT yourself; or hurt yourself, without the other feeling pain.

And this belief, you WANT. Yet wherein lies its value, EXCEPT in the desire to attack in safety? Attack is neither safe nor dangerous. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. And this is so, BECAUSE the universe is one. You would not choose attack on its reality, if it were not ESSENTIAL to attack to see it SEPARATE FROM ITS CREATOR. And thus it seems as if love could attack, AND BECOME FEARFUL. Only the DIFFERENT can attack. So you conclude, BECAUSE you can attack, you must be DIFFERENT. Yet does the Holy Spirit explain this differently. BECAUSE you are NOT different, you CAN NOT ATTACK.

Look not with fear upon this happy fact, and think not that it lays a heavy burden on you. For, when you have ACCEPTED it with gladness, you will realize that your relationship is a reflection of the union of the Creator and His Son. From loving minds, there IS no separation. And every thought in one brings gladness to the other, BECAUSE they are the same. Joy is unlimited, BECAUSE each shining thought of Love EXTENDS its Being, and creates more of Itself. There is no difference ANYWHERE within it. For every thought is like Itself.

The light that joins you shines throughout the universe. And, BECAUSE it joins you, so it makes you one with your Creator. And, in HIM, is all creation joined. Would you REGRET you cannot fear alone, when your relationship can also teach the power of love is there, which makes ALL fear impossible? Do not attempt to keep a little of the ego with this gift. For it was given to be USED, and NOT obscured. What teaches you you CANNOT separate, DENIES the ego. Let TRUTH decide if you be different or the same, and TEACH you which is true.

Section 7 - Practical Forgiveness

In any situation in which YOU are uncertain, the FIRST thing to consider, very simply, is, "What do I want to come of this? What is it FOR?" The clarification of the goal belongs at the BEGINNING, for it is this that will DETERMINE the outcome. In the ego's procedure, this is reversed. The SITUATION becomes the determiner of the outcome, WHICH CAN BE ANYTHING. The reason for this disorganized approach is evident. The ego does not know what it WANTS to come of it. It IS aware of what it does NOT want, but only that. It has no POSITIVE goal at all.

The value of deciding, in advance, what you WANT to happen, is simply that you will perceive the situation as a means to MAKE it happen. You will therefore make every effort to OVERLOOK what interferes with the accomplishment of your objective, and concentrate on everything that helps you meet it. It is quite noticeable that THIS approach has brought you closer to the Holy Spirit's SORTING OUT of truth and falsity. The "true" becomes what can be used to MEET the goal. The "false" becomes the useless FROM THIS POINT OF VIEW. The situation now HAS meaning, but only because the goal has MADE it meaningful.

The goal of truth has further practical advantages. If the situation is used for truth and sanity, its outcome MUST be peace. And this is quite APART from what the outcome IS. For if peace is the CONDITION of truth and sanity, and CANNOT be WITHOUT them, where peace is, they MUST be. Truth comes of itself. If you experience PEACE, it is because the truth HAS come to you. And you WILL see the outcome truly, for deception can not prevail against you. And you will RECOGNIZE the outcome, BECAUSE you are at peace. Here, again, you see the OPPOSITE of the ego's way of looking. For the EGO believes the situation BRINGS the experience. The Holy Spirit knows the situation IS as the goal determines it, and is experienced ACCORDING to the goal.

The goal of truth REQUIRES FAITH. Faith is implicit in the acceptance of the Holy Spirit's purpose. AND THIS FAITH IS ALL-INCLUSIVE. Where the goal of truth is set, there faith MUST be. The Holy Spirit sees the situation AS A WHOLE. The goal establishes the fact that EVERYONE involved in it WILL play his part in its accomplishment. THIS IS INEVITABLE. No-one will fail in anything. This SEEMS to ask for faith BEYOND you, and beyond what you can GIVE. But this is so ONLY from the viewpoint of the ego, for the ego believes in 'solving' conflicts through FRAGMENTATION, and does NOT perceive the situation as a whole. Therefore, it seeks to split off SEGMENTS of the situation and deal with them SEPARATELY. For it has faith in separation, and NOT in wholeness.

Confronted with any ASPECT of the situation which SEEMS to be difficult, the ego will attempt to TAKE THIS ASPECT ELSEWHERE, and resolve it there. And it will SEEM to be successful. Except that this attempt CONFLICTS WITH UNITY, and MUST obscure the goal of truth. And peace will not be experienced, EXCEPT in fantasy. Truth has NOT come, because faith has been DENIED, being WITHHELD from where it rightfully belonged. Thus do you LOSE the understanding of the situation the goal of truth would bring. For fantasy solutions bring but the ILLUSION of experience, and the illusion of peace is NOT the condition in which the truth can enter.

The substitutes for ASPECTS of the situation are the witnesses to your LACK of faith. They demonstrate that you did NOT believe that the solution AND THE PROBLEM were in the same place. The problem WAS this lack of faith. And it is THIS you demonstrate, when you REMOVE it from its source, and place it elsewhere. As a result, YOU DO NOT SEE THE PROBLEM. Had you not lacked the faith it COULD be solved, the PROBLEM would be gone. And the situation would have been MEANINGFUL to you, because the INTERFERENCE in the way of understanding, would have been removed. To remove the problem ELSEWHERE is to KEEP it. For you remove yourself FROM it, and MAKE it unsolvable.