The Course in Miracles,
Lesson 191 I AM THE HOLY CHILD OF GOD Here is your declaration of release from the bondage of the world.
Here as well is all the world released.
You do not see what you have done by giving to the world the role of jailer to the child of God.
What could the world be but vicious and afraid,
Fearful of shadows,
Punitive and wild,
Lacking all reason,
Blind,
Insane with hate?
What have you done that this should be your world?
What have you done that this is what you see?
Deny your own true identity and this is what remains.
You look on chaos and proclaim chaos is yourself.
There is no sight that fails to witness this to you.
There is no sound that does not speak of frailty within you and without.
There is no breath you draw that does not seem to bring you nearer to death.
There is no hope you hold that will not dissolve in tears.
Deny your own true identity and you will not escape the madness which induced this weird,
Unnatural and ghostly thought that mocks creation and laughs at God.
Deny your own true identity and you attack the universe alone,
Without a friend,
A tiny particle of dust,
Against the legions of your enemies.
Deny your own true identity and look on evil,
Sin and death.
Then watch as despair snatches from your fingers every scrap of hope,
Leaving you nothing but the wish to die.
What is it except a game you play in which your true identity can be denied?
You are as God created you,
All else but this one thing is folly to believe.
You are as God created you,
In this one thought everyone is set free.
You are as God created you,
In this one truth are all illusions gone.
You are as God created you,
In this one fact is sinlessness proclaimed to be forever part of everything.
You are as God created you,
In this one statement is sinlessness proclaimed to be the central core of your existence and your guarantee of immortality.
If you let today's idea find a place among your thoughts,
If you have risen far above the world,
If you have risen far above all the worldly thoughts that hold this world prisoner,
From this place of safety and escape,
You will return and set the world free.
The one who can accept their true identity is truly saved.
Their salvation is the gift they give to everyone.
Their salvation is the gift they give in gratitude to God who pointed out the way to happiness that changed their whole perspective of the world.
One holy thought like this and you are free.
You are the holy child of God.
With this holy thought you learn as well that you have freed the world.
You have no need to use this thought cruelly and then perceive the savage need in this thought.
To set yourself free of your imprisonment,
You will not see a devastating image of yourself walking the world in terror,
With the world twisting in agony because your fears have laid the mark of death upon its heart.
Be glad today how very easily hell is undone.
Say to yourself,
Repeat after me,
I am the holy child of God.
I cannot suffer.
I cannot be in pain.
I cannot suffer loss.
I cannot fail to do all that salvation asks.
I am the holy child of God.
In this thought is everything you look on wholly changed.
A miracle has lighted up all dark and ancient caverns where the rites of death have echoed since time began.
Time has lost its hold upon the world.
The Son of God has come in glory to redeem the lost,
To save the helpless,
To give the world the gift of his forgiveness.
Who could see the world as dark and sinful when God's Son has come again at last to set it free?
You who perceive yourself as weak and frail,
With futile hopes,
With devastated dreams.
You who perceive yourself born but to die,
Who perceive yourself born to weep and suffer pain,
Hear this.
All power is given unto you in earth and heaven.
There is nothing that you cannot do.
Say to yourself,
I am the holy child of God.
I cannot suffer.
I cannot be in pain.
I cannot suffer loss.
I cannot fail to do all that salvation asks.
To play the game of death,
Of being helpless,
Pitifully tied to dissolution in a world which shows no mercy to you.
Yet when you give the world mercy,
Will the world's mercy shine on you?
Then let the Son of God awaken from his sleep,
And opening his holy eyes,
Return again to bless the world he made.
In error the world began,
But it will end in the reflection of his holiness,
And he will sleep no more and dream of death.
Join with me today.
Your glory is the light that saves the world.
Do not withhold salvation any longer.
Look about the world and see the suffering there.
Is not your heart willing to bring rest to your weary sisters,
To your weary brothers?
Remind yourself as often as you can,
I am the holy child of God.
I cannot suffer.
I cannot be in pain.
I cannot suffer loss.
I cannot fail to do all that salvation asks.
I am the holy child of God.
I cannot suffer.
I cannot be in pain.
I cannot suffer loss.
I cannot fail to do all that salvation asks.
Ponder on this.
Remember,
Your brothers and sisters must await your own release.
They stay in chains until you are free.
They cannot see the mercy of the world until you find it in yourself.
They suffer pain until you have denied pain's hold on you.
They die until you accept your own eternal life.
You are the holy child of God.
Remember this and all the world is free.
You are the holy child of God.
Remember this and earth and heaven are one.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
