In doing the lesson for today, I looked up the word 'bestow'. Every word in A Course In Miracles is used for a purpose, it is a poetic use of words but also a very intentional use. Today's lesson doesn't say that there is a peace that Christ gives, it states that Christ bestows. So let's take a look at what the dictionary says about bestow.

to put to use : apply

to put in a particular or appropriate place : stow

to convey as a gift -usually used with on or upon

There is a peace that Christ conveys as a gift, that He gives from Himself to us. The beauty of the use of the word bestow is that the whole sentence becomes iambic pentameter, which is the same rhyme scheme that Shakespeare used in his sonnets. It 's a basic rhythm that goes like this:

baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM / baBOOM

there IS /a PEACE / that CHRIST / beSTOWS / on US

Most of the later workbook lessons are written in iambic pentameter, and there are parts in chapters written like that as well. Like in Chapter 21:

Thus they define their life and where they live, adjusting to it as they think they must, afraid to lose the little that they have. And so it is with all who see the body as all they have and all their brothers have.

It's just a fun thing to look at, and it really shows how truly miraculous and exceptional the writing in A Course In Miracles is. It contains poetry and prose, as well as a divine and true message.

Who uses but Christ's vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart. Comparisons are still before this peace. And all the world departs in silence as this peace envelops it, and gently carries it to truth, no more to be the home of fear. For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ's peace.

When you look at all that has been given you, you cannot but be in peace. All that is asked of you is to focus only on what is true in the recognition that there is nothing else. You get all the help you need for this, all you have to do is ask. Just remember that attaining peace is about receiving. You are not asked to do anything, go anywhere, meditate to a certain place. Christ bestows His Peace on you, it is His Gift to you, and all you have to do is receive it. It can't be any simpler than this. Once received you can trust that His Gift will do what it was sent to do. You don't have to judge it, you don't have to put it in a safe place, you don't have to compare it to something else or wonder if you are worth it. Christ knows your worth. Let Him help you today.

Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved. Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not. For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves.

Forgiveness is the only gift I give, because it is the only gift I want. And everything I give I give myself. This is salvation's simple formula. And I, who would be saved, would make it mine, to be the way I live within a world that needs salvation, and that will be saved as I accept Atonement for myself.

Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure their final outcome, and how faithfully is every step in my salvation set already, and accomplished by Your grace. Thanks be to You for Your eternal gifts, and thanks to You for my Identity.

Forgiveness is the only gift I give, because it is the only gift I want. I love it. What you give, you receive. It happens simultaneously. And that is a real experience.

A Course In Miracles tells you very clearly that you only give to yourself, but only through the experience of it can you know this to be true. When you , for one moment, but someones interests before your own, you will find that suddenly a sense of tiredness is lifted. By giving yourself away, for no reason whatsoever, by being willing to be truly helpful, you will suddenly experience that you are happy and no longer depressed. It is really that simple. But don't take my word for it, ask for the experience.

It can't be stated often enough that you do get the result of your own mind. Where your heart is, there is your treasure also. What you believe in, you will value, and what you value you will believe in. Take, for instance, the body and all the value that you place on it.

Look upon all the trinkets made to hang upon the body, or to cover it or for its use. See all the useless things made for its eyes to see. Think on the many offerings made for its pleasure, and remember all these were made to make seem lovely what you hate. Would you employ this hated thing to draw your brother to you, and to attract his body's eyes? Learn you but offer him a crown of thorns, not recognizing it for what it is, and trying to justify your own interpretation of its value by his acceptance. Yet still the gift proclaims his worthlessness to you, as his acceptance and delight acknowledges the lack of value he places on himself.

Gifts are not made through bodies, if they be truly given and received. For bodies can neither offer nor accept; hold out nor take. Only the mind can value, and only the mind decides on what it would receive and give. And every gift it offers depends on what it wants. It will adorn its chosen home most carefully, making it ready to receive the gifts it wants by offering them to those who come unto its chosen home, or those it would attract to it. And there they will exchange their gifts, offering and receiving what their minds judge to be worthy of them.

Each gift is an evaluation of the receiver and the giver. No one but sees his chosen home as an altar to himself. No one but seeks to draw to it the worshippers of what he placed upon it, making it worthy of their devotion. And each has set a light upon his altar, that they may see what he has placed upon it and take it for their own. Here is the value that you lay upon your brother and on yourself. Here is your gift to both; your judgment on the Son of God for what he is. Forget not that it is your savior to whom the gift is offered. Offer him thorns and you are crucified. Offer him lilies and it is yourself you free. Ch.20.II.The Gift Of Lilies

In the mind training of A Course In Miracles you are shown that the body is an empty vessel, and that you give it all the value that it has for you. Use the body for any other means than expressing the truth, and it will fall apart and crumble. It will get old and deteriorate, because you have given it value and reality, and you bind it to space and time.

There is a place in you where you know that this world is already over and that you are not a body. This knowledge has already been given you and is waiting for you to accept it. This body, this vehicle in which you seem to find yourself, will work perfectly if you use it for the one purpose. Use it to express the truth and only that. If you use it to adorn yourself with beautiful things to attract other bodies, you will get the result of that. If you use it to establish an identity, so will it be for you. You are, of course, not asked to neglect the body, you do take care of it. You don't have to dress in rags, but don't ever fool yourself about what this body is. It is not what you are. It is only something to use to express your true Identity.

The central lesson is always this; that what you use the body for it will become to you. Use it for sin or for attack, which is the same as sin, and you will see it as sinful. Because it is sinful it is weak, and being weak, it suffers and it dies. Use it to bring the Word of God to those who have it not, and the body becomes holy. Because it is holy it cannot be sick, nor can it die. When its usefulness is done it is laid by, and that is all. The mind makes this decision, as it makes all decisions that are responsible for the body's condition. Yet the teacher of God does not make this decision alone. To do that would be to give the body another purpose from the one that keeps it holy. God's Voice will tell him when he has fulfilled his role, just as It tells him what his function is. He does not suffer either in going or remaining. Sickness is now impossible to him. Manual for Teachers.12.

At any moment, right here and right now, it is forgiveness that shows you that you are saved and that you can save. They are simultaneous. As you accept the atonement for yourself, you experience the certainty and safety that you are taken care of, that the goal has been set already and is over and gone, and all this is given you through the Grace of God. This Grace is all you need. Rely on it. Count on it. God is here now. Anything is possible. It is, in fact, certain because it is impossible. Thank God today for His eternal Gifts and for your true Identity. Everything you need has already been given you.

Father, I did not make myself, although in my insanity I thought I did. Yet, as Your Thought, I have not left my Source, remaining part of Who created me. Your Son, my Father, calls on You today. Let me remember You created me. Let me remember my Identity. And let my sinlessness arise again before Christ's vision, through which I would look upon my brothers and myself today.

It's a glorious day. Things are changing, shifting, rearranging. Nothing is ever static. Nothing ever stays the same. The only thing you do as a human being is try by force to keep things the same, because you are afraid of change. You like to keep things as they are, even if you are not happy. You believe that you can find comfort in things staying the same, but you know that eventually things will fall apart. In a world of chaos you can't count on anything.

That is why it is good to remember that you are as God created you. God can be counted on in any circumstance, because He has nothing to do with this world and its circumstances. What you are is beyond this world, beyond any idea or concept, it can't be contained or explained. It is a simple knowing.

It is quite clear that there is a Light that goes with you wherever you are. It is here now. It is the Light of God. All you have to do is open your mind and let it in. How? By practicing the workbook of A Course In Miracles. By reading the Text. By taking a moment in your busy day to stop and let go and let God in. He is here now. He is with you. You are His Son. God doesn't know of any separation, it is only your belief that God is in Heaven and you are not that makes you feel all alone in the universe.

Your Home is in Heaven. And Heaven is here now. But when you are so busy with little things, you can't know it. Stop and look up. Listen. Open your mind. Someone is trying to tell you something. Keep listening. Don't ever stop. While you still seem to find yourself in a body in this world, you need all the help you can get.

Now is our Source remembered, and Therein we find our true Identity at last. Holy indeed are we, because our Source can know no sin. And we who are His Sons are like each other, and alike to Him.

It is impossible that anything should come to me unbidden by myself. Even in this world, it is I who rule my destiny. What happens is what I desire. What does not occur is what I do not want to happen. This must I accept. For thus am I led past this world to my creations, children of my will, in Heaven where my holy Self abides with them and Him Who has created me.

Reading the lesson this morning put me right back on track. Just in case I forget that I am the cause of whatever happens to me, however I feel and any thoughts that come to me. A Course In Miracles is completely singular, there is no room for blaming anyone or anything outside of you. If you do want to blame someone, go straight to God, shake your fist at Him, curse at Him, till finally you are so fed up with how you are feeling that you say, 'There must be a better way.' That is where you pick up your Course again, practice the lesson for today and read out loud what you need to express and hear at the same time.

You are the Self Whom You created Son, creating like Yourself and One with You. My Self, which rules the universe, is but Your Will in perfect union with my own, which can but offer glad assent to Yours, that it may be extended to Itself.

It's amazing what the words of A Course In Miracles do, they are impeccable. Read them out loud and you feel something happen in you on a molecular level. Things start moving, flowing and shifting, there is an immediate healing that takes place. It's amazing.

You can speak from the spirit or from the ego, as you choose. If you speak from spirit you have chosen to "Be still and know that I am God." These words are inspired because they reflect knowledge. If you speak from the ego you are disclaiming knowledge instead of affirming it, and are thus dis-spiriting yourself. Do not embark on useless journeys, because they are indeed in vain. The ego may desire them, but spirit cannot embark on them because it is forever unwilling to depart from its Foundation. -Ch.4.The Illusions Of The Ego. Introduction

The power of words, the vibration of the cells, is beautifully described in The Mind Of The Cells, where Mother is undergoing a physical transformation, which is exactly what is happening to you.

Sound has a power in itself, and by making the body repeat a sound, one also makes it absorb the corresponding vibration. But the words must carry a life in themselves, a certain vibration (I don't mean an intellectual significance, nothing like that, but a vibration). And there is a remarkable effect on the body: it starts to vibrate and vibrate and vibrate...

The words in A Course In Miracles are packed with light and love and energy. No matter how many changes have been made to the original text, the words have come from so far beyond this world that their impact remains unchanged. These words contain eternity and truth, you are these words, and they have been given you so you can remember that what is being expressed is what you are. Say these words out loud and you will recognize their truth. This is why you need to teach this message. This is why you need to listen to what you say. And this is why you need to be vigilant about what you express. Speak the truth and you will hear it. Express littleness, gossip, dishonesty, judgment and projection and you will get the result of it. You want to go to a higher frequency of vibration and everything is given you to stay on that. Use it. Speak the lesson for today and hear it. Remind yourself hourly, or maybe more often than that, that your Self is ruler of the Universe.

Today's lesson comes with a great introduction.

What Is The World?

I could just copy the whole text of it and paste it here, it's quite amazing, but I am counting on you to read your Course In Miracles and to practice the lesson.

What is basically revealed to you today is that the world is not real. You are shown very clearly what brought this world about, what you have been using it for and the power of your mind to change the purpose of the world you see to a real world with sights and sounds of God.

The world is false perception. It is born of error, and it has not left its source. It will remain no longer than the thought that gave it birth is cherished. When the thought of separation has been changed to one of true forgiveness, will the world be seen in quite another light; and one which leads to truth, where all the world must disappear and all its errors vanish. Now its source has gone, and its effects are gone as well.

Wow. This morning I made the decision to read this whole page with the next 10 lessons. It can't hurt to remind myself of the purpose of this world and that I can see it differently.

As sight was made to lead away from truth, it can be redirected. Sounds become the call for God, and all perception can be given a new purpose by the One Whom God appointed Savior to the world. Follow His light, and see the world as He beholds it. Hear His Voice alone in all that speaks to you. And let Him give you peace and certainty, which you have thrown away, but Heaven has preserved for you in Him.

It always comes down to cause and effect. You are the cause and when your purpose is clear, the effects will fall into place. You decide on what you want to see. You are completely responsible. The freedom that comes with that recognition is that you can choose to see things differently. Choose for peace and certainty and let the means fall into place. You have the power to do this, because you were created by God. You have just been hiding your light under a bushel for so long, that you forget you can walk on water. You can move mountains. Literally. And that is only the beginning, because why would you move mountains back and forth? The only purpose could possibly be that it shows you that this world cannot contain you, that it has no hold over you, and that its laws are meaningless. Now you can wake up. Now you can fulfill your function as the light of the world.

Let us not rest content until the world has joined our changed perception. Let us not be satisfied until forgiveness has been made complete. And let us not attempt to change our function. We must save the world. For we who made it must behold it through the eyes of Christ, that what was made to die can be restored to everlasting life.

You have to fulfill your function, but only for yourself. As you forgive your brothers, you forgive yourself. As you save them, you save yourself. You need to see this world through the eyes of Christ, so that you may be remember you are as God created you and not of this world.

This holy instant is salvation come.

What joy there is today! It is a time of special celebration. For today holds out the instant to the darkened world where its release is set. The day has come when sorrows pass away and pain is gone. The glory of salvation dawns today upon a world set free. This is the time of hope for countless millions. They will be united now, as you forgive them all. For I will be forgiven by you today.

This is Jesus speaking to you. And He is rejoicing because you will forgive Him today. Any idea you have of Him, of His life and crucifixion and resurrection, let it go. Set Him free and thus free yourself. Together we go to our Father and say:

We have forgiven one another now, and so we come at last to You again. Father, Your Son, who never left, returns to Heaven and his home. How glad are we to have our sanity restored to us, and to remember that we all are one.