To the advanced teacher of God this question is meaningless. There is no
program, for the lessons in the curriculum change each day. Yet he is
sure of but one thing; they do not change at random. Seeing this, and
understanding it is true, he rests content. He will be told all that his
role should be, this day and every day. And those who share that role
with him will find him, so they can learn the lessons for the day
together. Not one is absent whom he needs; not one is sent without a
learning goal already set, and one which can be met that very day. For
the advanced teacher of God, then, this question is superfluous. It has
been asked and answered, and he keeps in constant contact with the
Answer. He is set, and sees the road on which he walks stretch surely
and smoothly before him.

But what about those who have not reached his certainty? They are not
yet ready for such lack of structuring on their own part. What must they
do to learn to give the day to God? There are some general rules which
do apply, although each one must use them as best he can in his own way.
Routines as such are dangerous, because they easily become gods in their
own right, threatening the very goals for which they were set up.
Broadly speaking, then, it can be said that it is well to start the day
right. It is always possible to begin again should the day begin with
error, yet there are obvious advantages in terms of saving time if the
need for this can be avoided.

At the beginning it is wise to think in terms of time. This is by no
means the ultimate criterion, but at the outset it is probably the
simplest to observe. The saving of time is an essential early emphasis
which, although it remains important throughout the learning process,
becomes less and less emphasized. At the outset, we can safely say that
time devoted to starting the day right does indeed save time. How much
time should be so spent? This must depend on the teacher of God himself.
He cannot claim that title until he has gone through the Workbook, since
we are learning within the framework of our course. After completion of
the more structured practice periods which the Workbook contains,
individual need becomes the chief consideration.

This course is always practical. It may be that the teacher of God is
not in a situation which fosters quiet thought as he awakes. If this is
so, let him but remember that he chooses to spend time with God as soon
as possible, and let him do so. Duration is not the major concern. One
can easily sit still an hour with closed eyes, and accomplish nothing.
One can as easily give God only an instant, and in that instant join
with Him completely. Perhaps the one generalization that can be made is
this; as soon as possible after waking take your quiet time, continuing
a minute or two after you begin to find it difficult. You may find that
the difficulty will diminish and drop away. If not, that is the time to
stop.

The same procedures should be followed at night. Perhaps your quiet time
should be fairly early in the evening, if it is not feasible for you to
take it just before going to sleep. It is not wise to lie down for it.
It is better to sit up, in whatever position you prefer. Having gone
through the Workbook you must have come to some conclusions in this
respect. If possible, however, just before going to sleep is a desirable
time to devote to God. It sets your mind into a pattern of rest, and
orients you away from fear. If it is expedient to spend this time
earlier, at least be sure that you do not forget a brief period, – not
more than a moment will do, – in which you close your eyes and think of
God.

There is one thought in particular that should be remembered throughout
the day. It is a thought of pure joy; a thought of peace, a thought of
limitless release, – limitless because all things are freed within
it. You think you made a place of safety for yourself. You think you made
a power that can save you from all the fearful things you see in dreams.
It is not so. Your safety lies not there. What you give up is merely the
illusion of protecting illusions. And it is this you fear, and only
this. How foolish to be so afraid of nothing! Nothing at all! Your
defences will not work but you are not in danger. You have no need of
them. Recognize this and they will disappear. And only then will you
accept your real protection.

How simply and how easily does the day slip by for the teacher of God
who has accepted His protection! All that he did before in the name of
safety no longer interests him. For he is safe, and knows it is so. He
has a Guide Who will not fail. He need make no distinctions among the
problems he perceives, for He to Whom he turns with all of them
recognizes no order of difficulty in resolving them. He is as safe in
the present as he was before illusions were accepted into his mind, and
as he will be when he has let them go. There is no difference in his
state at different times and different places, because they are all one
to God. This is his safety. And he has no need for more than this.

Yet there will be temptations along the way the teacher of God has yet
to travel, and he has need of reminding himself throughout the day of
his protection. How can he do this, particularly during the time when
his mind is occupied with external things? He can but try, and his
success depends on his conviction that he will succeed. He must be sure
success is not of him, but will be given him at any time, in any place
and circumstance he calls for it. There are times his certainty will
waver, and the instant this occurs he will return to earlier attempts to
place reliance on himself alone. Forget not this is magic, and that
magic is a sorry substitute for true assistance. It is not good enough
for God’s teacher because it is not enough for God’s Son.

The avoidance of magic is the avoidance of temptation. For all
temptation is nothing more than the attempt to substitute another will
for God’s. These attempts may indeed seem frightening, yet they are
merely pathetic. They can have no effects; neither good nor bad, neither
rewarding nor demanding sacrifice, healing nor destructive, quieting nor
fearful. When all magic is recognized as merely nothing, the teacher of
God has reached the most advanced state. All intermediate lessons will
but lead to this, and bring this goal nearer to recognition. For magic
of any kind, in all its forms, simply does nothing. Its powerlessness is
the reason it can be so easily escaped. What has no effects can hardly
terrify.

There is no substitute for the Will of God. In simple statement, it is
to this simple fact that the teacher of God devotes his day. Each
substitute he may accept as real can but deceive him. But he is safe
from all deception if he so decides. Perhaps he needs to remember “God
is with me. I cannot be deceived.” Perhaps he prefers other words, or
only one or none at all. Yet each temptation to accept magic as true must
be abandoned through his recognition not that it is fearful, not that it
is sinful, not that it is dangerous, but merely that it is meaningless.
Rooted in sacrifice and separation, two aspects of one
error and no more, he merely chooses to give up all that he never had.
And for this “sacrifice” is Heaven restored to his awareness.

Is not this an exchange that you would want? The world would gladly make
it, if it knew it could be made. It is God’s teachers who must teach it
that it can. And so it is their function to make sure that they have
learned it. No risk is possible throughout the day except to put your
trust in magic, for it is only this that leads to pain. “There is no
will but God’s.” His teachers know that this is so, and have learned
that everything but this is magic. All belief in magic is maintained by
just one simple-minded illusion; – that it works. All through his
training, every day and hour, and even every minute and second, must
God’s teachers learn to recognize the forms of magic and perceive their
meaninglessness. Fear is withdrawn from them and so they go. And thus
the Gate of Heaven is reopened, and its light can shine again on an
untroubled mind.