1. All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today. ²Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. ³So, too, does the source of guilt. ⁴You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else. ⁵When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. ⁶In understanding this you are saved.
2. The seeming cost of accepting today’s idea is this: It means that nothing outside yourself can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace. ²But it also means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any way. ³Today’s idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong because of what you are. ⁴This is not a role that can be partially accepted. ⁵And you must surely begin to see that accepting it is salvation.
3. It may not, however, be clear to you why the recognition that guilt is in your own mind entails the realization that salvation is there as well. ²God would not have put the remedy for the sickness where it cannot help. ³That is the way your mind has worked, but hardly His. ⁴He wants you to be healed, so He has kept the Source of healing where the need for healing lies.
4. You have tried to do just the opposite, making every attempt, however distorted and fantastic it might be, to separate healing from the sickness for which it was intended, and thus keep the sickness. ²Your purpose was to ensure that healing did not occur. ³God’s purpose was to ensure that it did.
5. Today we practice realizing that God’s Will and ours are really the same in this. ²God wants us to be healed, and we do not really want to be sick, because it makes us unhappy. ³Therefore, in accepting the idea for today, we are really in agreement with God. ⁴He does not want us to be sick. ⁵Neither do we. ⁶He wants us to be healed. ⁷So do we.
6. We are ready for two longer practice periods today, each of which should last some ten to fifteen minutes. ²We will, however, still let you decide when to undertake them. ³We will follow this practice for a number of lessons, and it would again be well to decide in advance when would be a good time to lay aside for each of them, and then adhering to your own decisions as closely as possible.
7. Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today, adding a statement signifying your recognition that salvation comes from nothing outside of you. ²You might put it this way:
3My salvation comes from me. 4It cannot come from anywhere else.
5Then devote a few minutes, with your eyes closed, to reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past;—in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real. 6Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself:
7My salvation cannot come from any of these things. 8My salvation comes from me and only from me.
8. Now we will try again to reach the light in you, which is where your salvation is. ²You cannot find it in the clouds that surround the light, and it is in them you have been looking for it. ³It is not there. ⁴It is past the clouds and in the light beyond. ⁵Remember that you will have to go through the clouds before you can reach the light. ⁶But remember also that you have never found anything in the cloud patterns you imagined that endured, or that you wanted.
9. Since all illusions of salvation have failed you, surely you do not want to remain in the clouds, looking vainly for idols there, when you could so easily walk on into the light of real salvation. ²Try to pass the clouds by whatever means appeals to you. ³If it helps you, think of me holding your hand and leading you. ⁴And I assure you this will be no idle fantasy.
10. For the short and frequent practice periods today, remind yourself that your salvation comes from you, and nothing but your own thoughts can hamper your progress. ²You are free from all external interference. ³You are in charge of your salvation. ⁴You are in charge of the salvation of the world. ⁵Say, then:
6My salvation comes from me. 7Nothing outside of me can hold me back. 8Within me
is the world’s salvation and my own.
✨ Inspired by the core message of the Course:
"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."
This lesson comes from (A Course in Miracles). Hemelbewus presents it in Afrikaans as part of a path of inner healing and forgiveness. The translation was done with great care and dedication over several years by Henri Theron, and brings the deep spiritual teachings of the Course to Afrikaans-speaking readers.
Lesson 70: My salvation comes from me. (ACIM, W-70)
