LESSON TWENTY-SIX

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.  How come?  Quite simple.  It is because attack thoughts and invulnerability are both states of mind. In one way or another, We say this with every word that passes through Our Consciousness.  All things do take place together!  So what differentiates them?  Some are real, and some are not.

¹ It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked, you are not invulnerable. And, obviously, if You can attack, so can Your Brother!  Which does make Him Your instant enemy.  And, then, vice versa.  You see attack as a real threat. That is because you believe that you can really attack. Again, what You believe about Yourself, You believe about Your Brother, and vice versa. This will be reiterated until You get it! And – not only that, but! – what would have effects through you must also have effects on you. So here We have what You might call a double whammy! A lose-lose situation! However, Holy Spirit to the rescue, there’s an upside! It is this law that will ultimately save you. But you are misusing it now. You must therefore learn how it can be used for your own best interests rather than against them.  Don’t worry! This is not selfish, for – by the same rule – what blesses You must also bless Your Brother.  Such is the Law of Love in operation.

² Because your attack thoughts will be projected, you will fear attack. Thus do these facts encourage You – albeit first through fear – to look at the results of hatred, another word for Your lack of Love; for there is no difference. And if you fear attack, you must believe that you are not invulnerable. Thus are You weakened more by Your own mind than You are – or could be – by Another’s.  It is an inside job, so to speak, in the vernacular! Do remember this. Attack thoughts therefore make you vulnerable in your own mind, which is where the attack thoughts are.  And let Us both note and remember here that consciousness is but the one source of sin, sickness, dying, states unknown to God. Attack thoughts and invulnerability cannot be accepted together. They contradict each other.  Again because minds are joined, all thoughts that affect Your Brother affect You as well.  Thus, when You will to bless Your Brother, are You then also blessed.  This is the law of reciprocity.

And now You do understand God’s words through Moses: “I have set before You Life and death, blessing and cursing.  Therefore, choose Life.”  The separated Son of God still has dominion.  And having chosen to limit God’s own Revelation of Himself, the Son can then seem to do and even be the antithesis of God, and therefore, of that which He – the Holy belovèd Son – really is.

Seems a conundrum?  Only to the ego which would ‘sin’ with impunity, and thus, never, ever, wish to Awaken.

³ The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself. If attack thoughts must entail the belief that you are vulnerable, their effect is to weaken you in your own eyes. Opening the door to more illusion in the form of sin, sickness, dying. (Would You not choose again?  I will repeat this.) Thus they have attacked your perception of yourself. And because you believe in them, you can no longer believe in yourself. A false image of yourself has come to take the place of what you are.  Belovèd Son of God, what a futile exercise this is!  Why not Awaken?

With that in mind, let Us now continue, and do the Lesson gladly, together:

⁴ Practice with today’s idea will help you to understand that vulnerability or invulnerability is the result of your own thoughts. Nothing except your thoughts can attack you. Nothing except your thoughts can make you think you are vulnerable. And nothing except your thoughts can prove to you this is not so.  So watch the use to which You put Your mind.  Measure it by Love.

⁵ Six practice periods are required in applying today’s idea. A full two minutes should be attempted for each of them, although the time may be reduced to a minute if the discomfort is too great. Do not reduce it further.

 

⁶ The practice period should begin with repeating the idea for today, then closing your eyes and reviewing the unresolved situations whose outcomes are causing you concern. The concern may take the form of depression, worry, anger, a sense of imposition, fear, foreboding, or preoccupation. Any problem as yet unsettled which tends to recur in your thoughts during the day is a suitable subject. You will not be able to use very many for any one practice period, because a longer time than usual should be spent with each one. Today’s idea should be applied as follows:

⁷ First, name the situation:

⁸ I am concerned about ______.

⁹ Then go over every possible outcome which has occurred to you in that connection and which has caused you concern, referring to each one quite specifically, saying:

¹⁰ I am afraid ______ will happen.

¹¹ If you are doing the exercises properly, you should have some five or six distressing possibilities available for each situation you use and quite possibly more. It is much more helpful to cover a few situations thoroughly than to touch on a larger number.

¹² As the list of anticipated outcomes for each situation continues, you will probably find some of them, especially those which occur to you toward the end, less acceptable to you. Try, however, to treat them all alike to whatever extent you can.

¹³ After you have named each outcome of which you are afraid, tell yourself:

¹⁴ That thought is an attack upon myself.

¹⁵ Conclude each practice period by repeating today’s idea once more.

“My attack thoughts are attacking My invulnerability.”