You think you are the home of evil, darkness and sin. You think if
anyone could see the truth about you he would be repelled, recoiling
from you as if from a poisonous snake. You think if what is true about
you were revealed to you, you would be struck with horror so intense
that you would rush to death by your own hand, living on after seeing
this being impossible.
These are beliefs so firmly fixed that it is difficult to help you see
that they are based on nothing. That you have made mistakes is obvious.
That you have sought salvation in strange ways; have been deceived,
deceiving and afraid of foolish fantasies and savage dreams; and have
bowed down to idols made of dust; all this is true by what you now
believe.
Today we question this, not from the point of view of what you think,
but from a very different reference point, from which such idle thoughts
are meaningless. These thoughts are not according to God’s Will. These
weird beliefs He does not share with you. This is enough to prove that
they are wrong, but you do not perceive that this is so.
Why would you not be overjoyed to be assured that all the evil that you
think you did was never done; that all your “sins” are nothing; that you
are as pure and holy as you were created, and that light and joy and
peace abide in you? Your image of yourself cannot withstand the Will of
God. You think that this is death, but it is life. You think you are
destroyed, but you are saved.
The self you made is not the Son of God. Therefore, this self does not
exist at all. And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. It is
neither bad nor good. It is unreal, and nothing more than that. It does
not battle with the Son of God. It does not hurt him, nor attack his
peace. It has not changed creation, nor reduced eternal sinlessness to
sin and love to hate. What power can this self you made possess, when it
would contradict the Will of God?
Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Over and over this must be
repeated, until it is accepted. It is true. Your sinlessness is
guaranteed by God. Nothing can touch it, nor can change what God
created as eternal. The self you made, evil and full of sin, is
meaningless. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and
peace abide in you.
Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought; you are as God
created you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think
you did, you are as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the
truth about you is unchanged. Creation is eternal and unalterable. Your
sinlessness is guaranteed by God. You are and will forever be exactly as
you were created. Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put
them there.
In our longer exercise periods today, which would be most profitable if
done for the first five minutes of every waking hour, we will begin by
stating the truth about our creation:
“Light and joy and peace abide in me.
My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.”
Then put away your foolish self-images, and spend the rest of the
practice period in trying to experience what God has given you, in place
of what you have decreed for yourself.
You are what God created, or what you made. One Self is true; the other
is not there. Try to experience the unity of your One Self. Try to
appreciate Its holiness and the love from which It was created. Try not
to interfere with the Self Which God created as you by hiding Its
majesty behind the tiny idols of evil and sinfulness you have made to
replace It. Let It come into Its own. Here you are;This is you. And
light and joy and peace abide in you because this is so.
You may not be willing or even able to use the first five minutes of
each hour for these exercises. Try, however, to do so when you can. At
least remember to repeat these thoughts each hour:
“Light and joy and peace abide in me.
My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.”
Then try to devote at least a minute or so to closing your eyes and
realizing that this is a statement of the truth about you.
If a situation arises that seems to be disturbing, quickly dispel the
illusion of fear by repeating these thoughts again. Should you be
tempted to become angry with someone, tell him silently:
“Light and joy and peace abide in me.
My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.”
You can do much for the world’s salvation today. You can do much today
to bring you closer to the part in salvation which God has assigned to
you. And you can do much today to bring the conviction to your mind that
the idea for the day is true indeed.