Welcome to Active Meditation.
A Course in Miracles,
Lesson 64 Let me not forget my function.
Today's idea is merely another way of saying,
Let me not wander into temptation.
The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness and provide you with a justification for forgetting it.
It is the temptation to abandon God and his child by taking on a physical appearance.
It is this the body's eyes look upon.
Nothing the body's eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation,
Since this was the purpose of the body itself.
Yet,
We have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made,
And therefore sees another purpose in them.
To the Holy Spirit,
The world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself,
What you think of as your sins.
In this perception,
The physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.
To review our last few lessons,
Your function here is to be the light of the world,
The function given you by God.
It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this,
And only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God.
The world's salvation awaits your forgiveness,
Because through it does the child of God escape from all illusions,
And thus from all temptation.
The child of God is you.
Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy.
That is because your function is to be happy,
By using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable.
There is no other way.
Therefore,
Every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function,
You are really choosing whether or not to be happy.
Let us remember this today.
Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning,
And again at night,
And all through the day as well.
Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple.
Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness.
Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make?
Let not the form of the decision deceive you.
Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content.
It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice.
That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees.
Therefore,
It is the only choice there is.
Today then,
Let us practice with these thoughts.
Let me not forget my function.
Let me not try to substitute mine for God's.
Let me forgive and be happy.
Let us practice now.
Say to yourself,
Repeat in your mind after me,
Let me not forget my function.
Let me not try to substitute mine for God's.
Let me forgive and be happy.
At least once,
Devote 10 or 15 minutes today to reflecting on this with eyes closed.
The related thoughts will come to help you if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world.
In the frequent applications of today's idea throughout the day,
Devote several minutes to reviewing these thoughts and then thinking about them and about nothing else.
This will be difficult at first.
Particularly,
Since you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires.
You may need to repeat,
Let me not forget my function quite often to help you concentrate.
So let's practice again.
Repeat to yourself,
Let me not forget my function.
Let me not try to substitute my function for God's.
Say in your mind,
Let me forgive and be happy.
Now,
Let's spend a few moments revealing these thoughts.
Think about them and about nothing else.
If you become distracted,
Repeat,
Let me not forget my function to help you concentrate.
Do this now.
Let me not forget my function.
Let me not try to substitute my function for God's.
Let me forgive and be happy.
Two forms of shorter practice periods are required.
At times,
Do the exercises with your eyes closed,
Trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using.
At other times,
Keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts.
And then look slowly and unselectively around you,
Telling yourself,
This is the world.
It is my function to save.
Let's try it.
Open your eyes.
Look around you.
Say to yourself,
Say in your mind,
This is the world.
It is my function to save.
Close your eyes.
Now,
Before we return to time and space,
Ponder on this.
Let me not forget my function.
Let me not try to substitute my function for God's.
Let me forgive and be happy.
Let me not forget my function.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
