1. Today we are considering the will you share with God. \u00b2This is not the same as the ego\u2019s idle wishes, out of which darkness and nothingness arise. \u00b3The will you share with God has all the power of creation in it. \u2074The ego\u2019s idle wishes are unshared, and therefore have no power at all. \u2075Its wishes are not idle in the sense that they can make a world of illusions in which your belief can be very strong. \u2076But they are idle indeed in terms of creation. \u2077They make nothing that is real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Idle wishes and grievances are partners or co-makers in picturing the world you see. \u00b2The wishes of the ego gave rise to it, and the ego\u2019s need for grievances, which are necessary to maintain it, peoples it with figures that seem to attack you and call for \u201crighteous\u201d judgment. \u00b3These figures become the middlemen the ego employs to traffic in grievances. \u2074They stand between your awareness and your brothers\u2019 reality. \u2075Beholding them, you do not know your brothers or your Self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Your will is lost to you in this strange bartering, in which guilt is traded back and forth, and grievances increase with each exchange. \u00b2Can such a world have been created by the Will the Son of God shares with his Father? \u00b3Did God create disaster for His Son? \u2074Creation is the Will of Both together. \u2075Would God create a world that kills Himself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Today we will try once more to reach the world that is in accordance with your will. \u00b2The light is in it because it does not oppose the Will of God. \u00b3It is not Heaven, but the light of Heaven shines on it. \u2074Darkness has vanished. \u2075The ego\u2019s idle wishes have been withdrawn. \u2076Yet the light that shines upon this world reflects your will, and so it must be in you that we will look for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within. \u00b2The source of neither light nor darkness can be found without. \u00b3Grievances darken your mind, and you look out on a darkened world. \u2074Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets you look upon a world of light. \u2075We have repeatedly emphasized that the barrier of grievances is easily passed, and cannot stand between you and your salvation. \u2076The reason is very simple. \u2077Do you really want to be in hell? \u2078Do you really want to weep and suffer and die?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Forget the ego\u2019s arguments which seek to prove all this is really Heaven. \u00b2You know it is not so. \u00b3You cannot want this for yourself. \u2074There is a point beyond which illusions cannot go. \u2075Suffering is not happiness, and it is happiness you really want. \u2076Such is your will in truth. \u2077And so salvation is your will as well. \u2078You want to succeed in what we are trying to do today. \u2079We undertake it with your blessing and your glad accord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. We will succeed today if you remember that you want salvation for yourself. \u00b2You want to accept God\u2019s plan because you share in it. \u00b3You have no will that can really oppose it, and you do not want to do so. \u2074Salvation is for you. \u2075Above all else, you want the freedom to remember Who you really are. \u2076Today it is the ego that stands powerless before your will. \u2077Your will is free, and nothing can prevail against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. Therefore, we undertake the exercises for today in happy confidence, certain that we will find what it is your will to find, and remember what it is your will to remember. \u00b2No idle wishes can detain us, nor deceive us with an illusion of strength. \u00b3Today let your will be done, and end forever the insane belief that it is hell in place of Heaven that you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. We will begin our longer practice periods with the recognition that God\u2019s plan for salvation, and only His, is wholly in accord with your will. \u00b2It is not the purpose of an alien power, thrust upon you unwillingly. \u00b3It is the one purpose here on which you and your Father are in perfect accord. \u2074You will succeed today, the time appointed for the release of the Son of God from hell and from all idle wishes. \u2075His will is now restored to his awareness. \u2076He is willing this very day to look upon the light in him and be saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. After reminding yourself of this, and determining to keep your will clearly in mind, tell yourself with gentle firmness and quiet certainty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2<\/sup>I will there be light. 3<\/sup>Let me behold the light that reflects God\u2019s Will and mine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup>Then let your will assert itself, joined with the power of God and united with your Self. 5<\/sup>Put the rest of the practice period under Their guidance. 6<\/sup>Join with Them as They lead the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. In the shorter practice periods, again make a declaration of what you really want. \u00b2Say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3<\/sup>I will there be light. 4<\/sup>Darkness is not my will.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5<\/sup>This should be repeated several times an hour. 6<\/sup>It is most important, however, to apply today\u2019s idea in this form immediately you are tempted to hold a grievance of any kind. 7<\/sup>This will help you let your grievances go, instead of cherishing them and hiding them in darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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