A Course in Miracles Lesson 188
The peace of God is shining in me now.
Why wait for heaven?
Those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes.
The light is in them now.
Enlightenment is but a recognition,
Not a change at all.
Light is not of the world.
You who bear the light in you are alien here as well.
The light came with you from your native home.
The light stayed with you because it is your own light.
The light is the only thing you bring with you from the one who is your source.
The light shines in you because it lights your home.
The light leads you back to where it came from,
To where you are at home.
This light cannot be lost.
Why wait to find it in the future?
Why believe this light has been lost already,
Or was never there?
This light can be so easily looked upon that arguments which prove it is not there become
ridiculous.
Who can deny the presence of what is beheld within?
It is not difficult to look within,
For there all vision starts.
There is no sight,
Either of dreams or from a truer source,
That is not but the shadow
of what is seen through inward vision.
Here is where perception starts,
And here it ends.
Perception has no source but this light.
The peace of God is shining in you now.
The peace of God extends from your heart around the world.
The peace of God pauses to caress each living thing,
And the peace of God leaves a blessing
that remains forever and forever.
What the peace of God gives must be eternal.
It removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless.
The peace of God brings renewal to all tired hearts.
The peace of God lights all vision as it passes by.
All of its gifts are given to everyone,
And everyone unites in giving thanks to you who
give and you who have received.
The shining light in your mind reminds the world of what it has forgotten,
And the world
restores the memory to you as well.
From you,
Salvation radiates,
With gifts beyond all measure,
Given and returned to
you,
The giver of the gift.
From you does God himself give thanks,
And in his blessing does the light in you shine
brighter,
Adding to the gifts you have to offer to the world.
The peace of God can never be contained.
The one who recognizes it within themselves must give it.
The means for giving it are in their understanding.
We forgive because we recognize the truth in us.
The peace of God is shining in you now,
And shining in all living things.
In quietness,
The peace of God is acknowledged universally.
What your inward vision looks upon is your perception of the universe.
Let's practice.
Sitting quietly,
Close your eyes.
The light within you is sufficient.
Your light alone has power to give the gift of sight to you.
Exclude the outer world.
Let your thoughts fly to the peace within.
They know the way.
Honest thoughts,
Untainted by the dream of worldly things outside yourself,
Become the
holy messengers of God himself.
These honest thoughts you thank with God.
Honest thoughts recognize their home.
Honest thoughts point surely to their source,
Where God the Father and the Child are one.
God's peace is shining on these thoughts,
But they must remain with you as well,
For
they were born within your mind,
As your mind was born in God's mind.
These honest thoughts lead you back to peace from where they came,
Only to remind you how
you eventually must return to your source.
These thoughts heed your Father's voice when you refuse to listen.
These honest thoughts urge you to gently accept God's Word for what you are,
Instead of fantasies
and shadows.
These thoughts remind you that you are the co-creator of all things that live.
As the peace of God is shining in you,
It must shine on them.
We practice coming nearer to the light in us today.
We take our wandering thoughts and gently bring them back to where they fall in line
with all the thoughts we share with God.
We will not let them stray.
We let the light within our minds direct our wandering thoughts to come home.
We have betrayed our thoughts,
Ordering that they depart from us,
But now we call them
back.
We wash our thoughts clean of strange desires,
Of disordered wishes.
We restore to our thoughts the holiness of their inheritance.
Thus,
Our minds are restored with them.
We acknowledge that the peace of God still shines in us.
We acknowledge that the peace of God moves from us to all living things that share our
life.
We will forgive all living things,
Absolving all the world from what we thought this world
did to us.
We acknowledge that it is we who make the world as we would have it.
Now we choose that the world be innocent,
Devoid of sin,
Open to salvation.
Now lay your saving blessing on this world.
Say to yourself,
Say in your mind,
The peace of God is shining in me now.
Let all things shine upon me in that peace.
Let me bless them with the light in me.
Ponder on this.
The peace of God is shining in me now.
Let all things shine upon me in that peace.
Let me bless them with the light in me.
The peace of God is shining in me now.
Let all things shine upon me in that peace.
Let me bless them with the light in me.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Therein lies the peace of God.
