A Course in Miracles Lesson 187
I bless the world because I bless myself.
No one can give unless they have.
In fact,
Giving is proof of having.
We have made this point before.
No one can doubt that you must first possess what you would give.
It is the second phase on which the world and true perception differ.
Having had and then given,
The world asserts that you have lost what you possessed.
The truth maintains that giving will increase what you possess.
How is this possible?
For it is sure that if you give a finite thing away,
Your body's eyes will not perceive
it yours.
We have learned that things only represent the thoughts that make them.
You do not lack for proof that when you give ideas away,
You strengthen them in your own
mind.
Perhaps the form in which the thought seems to appear is changed in giving.
The thought must return to the one who gives,
Nor can the form the thought takes be less
acceptable.
It must be more acceptable.
Ideas must first belong to you before you give them.
If you are to save the world,
You first accept salvation for yourself.
You will not believe this until you see the miracles it brings to everyone you look upon.
Herein is the idea of giving clarified and given meaning.
Now you can perceive that by your giving is your store increased.
Accept all things you value by giving them away,
And you are sure that you will never
lose them.
What you thought you did not have is thereby proven to be yours.
Do not its form.
The form will change and grow unrecognizable in time.
However much you try to keep it safe,
No form endures.
It is the thought behind the form of all things that lives unchangeable.
Give gladly.
You can only gain by giving.
The thought remains and grows in strength as it is reinforced by giving.
Thoughts extend as they are shared,
For they cannot be lost.
Say to yourself,
Say in your mind,
I bless the world because I bless myself.
I bless the world because I bless myself.
There is no giver and receiver in the sense the world conceives of them.
There is a giver who retains,
Another who will give as well.
Both must gain in this exchange.
For each will have the thought in a form most helpful to them.
What they seem to lose is always something they will value less than what will surely
be returned to them.
Never forget,
You give only to yourself.
The one who understands what giving means must laugh at the idea of sacrifice,
Nor can
they fail to recognize the many forms which sacrifice may take.
They laugh as well at pain and loss,
Sickness and grief.
They laugh at poverty,
Starvation and death.
They recognize that sacrifice remains the one idea that stands behind all ideas,
And
in their gentle laughter they are healed.
Illusion recognized must disappear,
Except not suffering,
And you remove the thought
of suffering.
Your blessing lies on everyone who suffers when you choose to see all suffering as what
it is.
Say to yourself,
Say in your mind again,
I bless the world because I bless myself.
I bless the world because I bless myself.
The thought of sacrifice gives rise to all the forms that suffering appears to take.
The thought of sacrifice is an idea,
So mad that sanity dismisses it at once.
Never believe that you can sacrifice.
There is no place for sacrifice in what has any value.
If the thought of sacrifice occurs,
Its very presence proves that error has arisen and
correction must be made.
Your blessing will correct it.
Given first to you,
This blessing is now yours to give as well.
No form of sacrifice and suffering can long endure before the face of one who has forgiven
and has blessed themselves.
The lilies that you are offered are laid upon your altar,
Beside the lilies you offer others.
Who could fear to look upon such lovely holiness?
The great illusion of the fear of God diminishes to nothingness before the purity that you
will look on here.
Be not afraid to look.
The blessedness you will behold will take away all thought of form and leave instead
the perfect gift forever there,
Forever to increase,
Forever yours,
Forever given away.
Now,
We are one in thought.
Fear has gone.
And here,
Before the altar,
To one God,
One Father,
One Creator,
And one thought,
We stand
together,
As one child of God.
Not separate from God,
Who is our source.
Not distant from one brother.
Not distant from one sister,
Who is part of our one self and whose innocence has joined
us all as one.
We stand in blessedness and give as we receive.
The name of God is on our lips.
As we look within,
We see the purity of heaven shine in our reflection of our Father's love.
Now we are blessed,
And now we bless the world.
What we have looked upon,
We would extend,
For we would see it everywhere.
We would behold it,
Shining with the grace of God in everyone.
We would not have our blessing be withheld from anything we look upon.
And,
To ensure this holy sight is ours,
We offer it to everything we see,
For where we
see it,
It will be returned to us in the form of lilies we can lay upon our altar,
Making
it a home for innocence itself,
Who dwells in us and offers us God's holiness as ours.
Ponder on this.
Ideas must first belong to you before you give them.
If you are to save the world,
You first accept salvation for yourself.
Give blessedly.
You can only gain by giving.
The thought remains and grows in strength as it is reinforced by giving.
No form of sacrifice and suffering can long endure before the face of one who has forgiven
and has blessed themselves.
I bless the world because I bless myself.
Never forget,
You give only to yourself.
I bless the world because I bless myself.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
