LESSON 61
I am the light of the world.
Who is the light of the world except God's Son? This, then, is merely a statement of the truth about yourself. It is the opposite of a statement of pride, of arrogance, or of self-deception. It does not describe the self-concept you have made. It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you have endowed your idols. It refers to you as you were created by God. It simply states the truth.
To the ego, today's idea is the epitome of self-glorification. But the ego does not understand humility, mistaking it for self-debasement. Humility consists of accepting your role in salvation and in taking no other. It is not humility to insist you cannot be the light of the world if that is the function God assigned to you. It is only arrogance that would assert this function cannot be for you, and arrogance is always of the ego.
True humility requires that you accept today's idea because it is God's Voice which tells you it is true. This is a beginning step in accepting your real function on earth. It is a giant stride toward taking your rightful place in salvation. It is a positive assertion of your right to be saved, and an acknowledgment of the power that is given you to save others.
You will want to think about this idea as often as possible today. It is the perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation. It brings all the images you have made about yourself to the truth, and helps you depart in peace, unburdened and certain of your purpose.
As many practice periods as possible should be undertaken today, although each one need not exceed a minute or two. They should begin with telling yourself:
I am the light of the world. That is my only function.
That is why I am here.
Then think about these statements for a short while, preferably with your eyes closed if the situation permits. Let a few related thoughts come to you, and repeat the idea to yourself if your mind wanders away from the central thought.
Be sure both to begin and end the day with a practice period. Thus you will awaken with an acknowledgment of the truth about yourself, reinforce it throughout the day, and turn to sleep as you reaffirm your function and your only purpose here. These two practice periods may be longer than the rest, if you find them helpful and want to extend them.
Today's idea goes far beyond the ego's petty views of what you are and what your purpose is. As a bringer of salvation, this is obviously necessary. This is the first of a number of giant steps we will take in the next few weeks. Try today to begin to build a firm foundation for these advances. You are the light of the world. 6 God has built His plan for the salvation of His Son on you.
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Lesson 61
“I am the light of the world.”
The Light of the world is God’s one Son. The truth in everyone is the Light of the world. We are all the same Light. The separate identities are nothing. They are only there as barriers to remembering our one true Identity. There is only one Son, and it includes everyone. God’s extension of Love has not changed by dreaming dreams of separation. My job now is to remember the truth about everyone and myself. There is only one Son and that Son is the Light of the world.
By focusing my mind on that one Son, I loosen the bonds of false ideas that blind me and my brother to the truth of our oneness. My only true function is to remember the truth. That is why I am here. There is nothing more important than this. There is no individual “I.” This Light is all inclusive. In remembering our unity, in remembering that everyone is still as God created them, in remembering the truth, I accept my real function on earth.
To me Light and Love are synonymous. If I am to be the Light of the world that God created me to be, then I must be an expression of Love. My function is to extend Love. That is why I am here. That is why all of us are here. The form and context in which we express Love may be unique. One may look like a carpet layer who uses his opportunity to go into people’s homes and extend Love and compassion, to remind people that they are innocent, perhaps only in his thoughts. Another may be a business executive who remembers that everyone he meets is still Love, as God created him. No matter what the form, the content is Love. That is how we are the Light of the world.
To do this, to be expressions of Love, we have to let go of barriers to Love. Because Love is what we are in truth, anything that is not Love is a false image. It is an attempt to be not as we were created. These are the images we must let go of. This is another way of saying that to fulfill our function as the Light of the world, we must let go of the false functions we have made up, the goals to be something other than we were created to be.
The strength of God remains in us and it is through His strength that we fulfill our true function. It is through His strength that we are able to let go of our belief in any other functions. Today let me be open to every opportunity to offer Love and nothing else, to see innocence and nothing else, to see my brother as one with me, sharing the Light of the world.
Sometimes when I read some of these lessons I feel overwhelmed by the task. How do I go from being a person who is often frightened, guilty, and self-centered, to being the light of the world? I feel like giving up before I get started. How do I do this?
I appreciate the message that said, "I loosen the bonds of false ideas that blind me and my brother to the truth of our oneness." My first thought as I read that was,"Oh yeah, I don't have to invent this new me. This is who I really am. I just have to shed some false ideas that are covering up my identity." That doesn't seem so impossible. It will take some consistent effort, but that's doable.
It helps me to remember that Light and Love are the same. I can substitute "I am the Love of the world" meaning my job, my mission, my purpose, as a matter of fact, my only function here is to be an expression of Love. Since Love is who I truly am, how can I help not expressing and extending Love? I have momentary glimpses of what this is like: When I am fulfilling my function -- being who I really am and then naturally expressing and extending Love -- and I am not excluding anyone or anything in the now moment. That's when I have some awareness of being inexplicably happy. And thus, I know I must have been fulfilling my function as being the light of the world.
It seems so simple and it is, yet when my ego gets caught up in the form and not the content (all the things that go on at my "job" for example), I notice that in these moments I seem to be unhappy, and can become dillustioned so easily with feelings of discontent. Thus, my feelings are a major clue for me to know which thought system I am choosing to align with. I am making progress when it takes me less time to become of aware of my upsets.
This lesson helps me to remember my true function -- that I am the Love of the world. It helps me remember not to get caught up in form because form does not matter. It helps me remember that to fulfill my true function doesn't have to be hard as my ego would have me think -- resistance to the truth is what is hard. It also helps me remember that fulfilling my true and only function is what will bring me happiness and God's will for me is perfect happiness.
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