You think you are the home of evil, darkness and sin. You think if anyone could
see the truth about you he would be repelled, recoiling from you as if from a
poisonous snake. You think if what is true about you were revealed to you, you
would be struck with horror so intense that you would rush to death by your own
hand, living on after seeing this being impossible.
These are beliefs so firmly fixed that it is difficult to help you see that they
are based on nothing. That you have made mistakes is obvious. That you have
sought salvation in strange ways; have been deceived, deceiving and afraid of
foolish fantasies and savage dreams; and have bowed down to idols made of dust;
all this is true by what you now believe.
Today we question this, not from the point of view of what you think, but from a
very different reference point, from which such idle thoughts are meaningless.
These thoughts are not according to God's Will. These weird beliefs He does
not share with you. This is enough to prove that they are wrong, but you do not
perceive that this is so.
Why would you not be overjoyed to be assured that all the evil that you think
you did was never done; that all your "sins" are nothing; that you are as
pure and holy as you were created, and that light and joy and peace abide in
you? Your image of yourself cannot withstand the Will of God. You think that
this is death, but it is life. You think you are destroyed, but you are saved.
The self you made is not the Son of God. Therefore, this self does not exist at
all. And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. It is neither bad nor
good. It is unreal, and nothing more than that. It does not battle with the Son
of God. It does not hurt him, nor attack his peace. It has not changed creation,
nor reduced eternal sinlessness to sin and love to hate. What power can this
self you made possess, when it would contradict the Will of God?
Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Over and over this must be repeated,
until it is accepted. It is true. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Nothing
can touch it, nor can change what God created as eternal. The self you made,
evil and full of sin, is meaningless. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and
light and joy and peace abide in you.
Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought; you are as God created
you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think you did, you are
as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is
unchanged. Creation is eternal and unalterable. Your sinlessness is guaranteed
by God. You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. Light and joy
and peace abide in you because God put them there.
In our longer exercise periods today, which would be most profitable if done for
the first five minutes of every waking hour, we will begin by stating the truth
about our creation:
"Light and joy and peace abide in me. My sinlessness is guaranteed by God."
Then put away your foolish self-images, and
spend the rest of the practice period in trying to experience what God has given
you, in place of what you have decreed for yourself.
You are what God created, or what you made. One Self is true; the other is not
there. Try to experience the unity of your One Self. Try to appreciate Its
holiness and the love from which It was created. Try not to interfere with the
Self Which God created as you by hiding Its majesty behind the tiny idols of
evil and sinfulness you have made to replace It. Let It come into Its own. Here
you are; This is you. And light and joy and peace abide in you because this is
so.
You may not be willing or even able to use the first five minutes of each hour
for these exercises. Try, however, to do so when you can.
At least remember to repeat these thoughts each hour:
"Light and joy and peace abide in me. My sinlessness is guaranteed by God."
Then try to devote at least a minute or so to closing your eyes and realizing that this is a statement of the truth about you.
If a situation arises that seems to be disturbing, quickly dispel the illusion of fear by repeating these thoughts again. Should you be tempted to become angry with someone, tell him silently:
"Light and joy and peace abide in you. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God."
You can do much for the world's salvation
today. You can do much today to bring you closer to accepting the part in salvation which God has assigned to you. And you can do much today to bring the conviction to
your mind that the idea for the day is true indeed.
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