we continue today with chapter 12 the
investment in reality I once asks you to
sell all you have and give to the poor
and follow me this is what I meant if
you have no investment in anything in
this world you can teach the poor where
their treasure is the poor are merely
those who have invested wrongly and they
are poor indeed because they are in need
it has given you to help them since you
are among them consider how perfectly
your lesson would be learned if you were
unwilling to share their poverty for
poverty is lack and there is but one
lack since there is but one need suppose
a brother insist on having you do
something you think you do not want to
do his Airy insistence should tell you
that he believes salvation lies in it if
you insist on refusing and experience a
quick response of opposition you are
believing that your salvation lies in
not doing it you then are making the
same mistake he is and are making his
error real to both of you insistence
means investment and what you invest in
is always related to your notion of
salvation the question is always twofold
first what is to be saved and second how
can it be saved whenever you become
angry with a brother for whatever reason
you are believing that the ego is to be
saved and to be saved by attack if he
attacks you are agreeing with this
belief and if you attack you are
reinforcing it
remember that those who attack are poor
their poverty ask for gifts not for
further impoverishment
you who could help them are surely
acting destructively if you accept their
poverty as yours if you had not invested
as they had it would never occur to you
to overlook their need recognize what
does not matter and if your brothers ask
you for something
quote outrageous do it because it does
not matter refuse and your opposition
establishes that it does matter to you
it is only you therefore who have made
the request outrageous and every request
of a brother is for you why would you
insist in denying him for to do so is to
deny yourself and impoverish both he is
asking for salvation as you are
poverty is of the ego and never of God
no quote outrageous request can be made
of one who recognizes what is valuable
and once to accept nothing else
salvation is for the mind and it is
attained through peace this is the only
thing that can be saved and the only way
to save it any response other than love
arises from a confusion about the what
and the how of salvation and this is the
only answer never lose sight of this and
never allow yourself to believe even for
an instant
that there is another answer for you
will surely place yourself among the
poor who do not understand that they
dwell in abundance and that salvation is
come to identify with the ego is to
attack yourself and make yourself poor
that is why everyone who identifies with
the ego feels deprived
what he experiences them his depression
or anger because what he did was to
exchange self love for self hate making
him afraid of himself he does not
realize this even if he is fully aware
of anxiety he does not perceive its
source as his own ego identification and
he always tries to handle it by making
some sort of insane quote arrangement
with the world
he always perceives this world as
outside himself for this is crucial to
his adjustment he does not realize that
he makes this world for there is no
world outside of him if only the loving
thoughts of God's son are the world's
reality the real world must be in his
mind his insane thoughts too must be in
his mind but an internal conflict of
this magnitude he cannot tolerate a
split mind is endangered and the
recognition that it encompasses
completely opposed thoughts within
itself is intolerable therefore the mind
projects the split not the reality
everything you perceive as the outside
world is merely your attempt to maintain
your ego identification for everyone
believes that identification is
salvation it consider what has happened
what thoughts do have consequences to
the thinker you have become at odds with
the world as you perceive it because you
think it is antagonistic to you this is
a necessary consequence of what you have
done you have projected outward what
isn't agonistic to what is inward and
therefore you would have to perceive it
in this way that is why you must realize
that your hatred is in your mind and not
outside it before you can get rid of it
and why you must get rid of it before
you can perceive the world as it really
is
I said before that God so loved the
world that He gave it to his only
begotten Son
God does love the real world and those
who perceive us reality cannot see the
world of death for death is not of the
real world in which everything reflects
the eternal God gave you the real world
in exchange for the one you made out of
your split mind and which is the symbol
of death for if you could really
separate yourself from the mind of God
you would die the world you perceive is
a world of separation perhaps you are
willing to accept even death to deny
your father yet he would not have it so
and so it is not so you still cannot
will against him and that is why you
have no control over the world you made
it is not a world of will because it is
governed by the desire to be unlike God
and this desire is not will the world
you made is therefore totally chaotic
governed by arbitrary and senseless
quote laws and without meaning of any
kind for it is made out of what you do
not want projected from your mind
because you are afraid of it if this
world is only in the mind of its maker
along with his real salvation do not
believe it is outside of you yourself
for only by recognizing where it is will
you gain control over it for you do have
control over your mind since the mind is
the mechanism of decision if you will
recognize that all the attack you
perceive is in your own mind and nowhere
else you will at last have placed its
source and where it begins it must end
for in this same place also lies
salvation the altar of God where Christ
abideth is there you have defiled the
altar but not the world
yet Christ has placed the atonement on
the altar for you bring your perceptions
of the world to this altar for it is the
altar to truth there you will see your
vision changed and there you will learn
to see truly from this place where God
and his son dwell in peace and where you
are welcome
you will look out in peace and behold
the world truly yet to find the place
you must relinquish your investment in
the world as you projected allowing the
Holy Spirit to extend the real world to
you from the altar of God and from the
workbook lesson 88 today we will review
these ideas the light has come in
choosing salvation rather than attack I
merely choose to recognize what is
already there salvation is a decision
made already attack and grievances are
not there to choose that is why I always
choose between truth and illusion
between what is there and what is not
the light has come I can but choose the
light for it has no alternative it has
replaced the darkness and the darkness
has gone
these would prove useful forms for
specific applications of this idea this
cannot show me darkness for the light
has come the light in you is all that I
would see I would see in this only what
is there
I am under no laws but God's here is the
perfect statement of my freedom I am
under no laws but God's I am constantly
tempted to make up other laws and give
them power over me
I suffer only because of my belief in
them they have no real effect on me at
all
I am perfectly free of the effects of
all laws save God's and his are the laws
of freedom for specific forms in
applying this idea these would be useful
my perception of this shows me I believe
in laws that do not exist
I see only the laws of God at work in
this let me allow God's laws to work in
this and not my own the light has come I
am under no laws but God's so today we
withdraw all investment from the ego and
place our investment in reality in
spirit
today we understand what Jesus has asked
when he said sell all you have and give
to the poor and follow me he tells us
this is what I meant if you have no
investment in anything in this world you
can teach the poor where their treasure
is so if I have no investment in egoic
thinking if I have no investment in lack
or its opposites material abundance I am
free to show what is truly valuable I am
free to teach peace in place of poverty
I am able to respond in a truly helpful
way when I'm asked I am able to show by
demonstration what is truly valuable
today I remember that only the mind can
be saved and the only means of salvation
is peace Jesus reminds us whenever you
become angry with a brother for whatever
reason you are believing that the ego is
to be saved and to be saved by attack
today I release this belief I would not
say that the ego I would allow my mind
to be saved for peace my mind as part of
God's I am very holy and my mind has
been saved for peace today I will
remember the what and the how of
salvation the what is that the mind is
in need of salvation and the how is
peace in Jesus reminds us very strongly
never lose sight of this and never allow
yourself to believe even for an instant
that there is another answer
if only the loving thoughts of God's son
are the world's reality the real world
must be in his mind today we find the
real world the forgiving world today we
find the happy dream we see that
everything perceived as the outside
world is merely an attempt to maintain
an ego identification therefore today we
release the belief in an external world
our state of mind radiates to everything
and everyone because they are not
outside of the mind
God does love the real world and those
who perceive its reality cannot see the
world of death death is not of the real
world Todd gave the real world in
exchange for the one the ego made out of
the split today we released the ego we
released the death wish we released the
belief in attack forever
the light has come I am under no laws
but gods amen