1. 1Today’s idea is merely another way of saying “Let me not wan­der into temptation.” 2The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. 3It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. 4It is this the body’s eyes look upon.

2. 1Nothing the body’s eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. 2Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. 3To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. 4In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.

3. 1To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. 2It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this, and only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God Himself. 3The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all temptation. 4The Son of God is you.

4. 1Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. 2That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. 3There is no other way. 4Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy.

5. 1Let us remember this today. 2Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. 3Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. 4Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. 5Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? 6Let not the form of the decision deceive you. 7Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. 8It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. 9That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. 10Therefore it is the only choice there is.

6. 1Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts:

2Let me not forget my function.
3Let me not try to substitute mine for God’s.
4Let me forgive and be happy.

5At least once devote ten or fifteen minutes today to reflecting on this with closed eyes. 6Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world.

7. 1In the frequent applications of today’s idea throughout the day, devote several minutes to reviewing these thoughts, and then thinking about them and about nothing else. 2This will be diffi­cult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires. 3You may need to repeat “Let me not forget my function” quite often to help you concentrate.

8. 1Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. 2At times, do the exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using. 3At other times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and then look slowly and unselectively around you, telling yourself:

4This is the world it is my function to save.