The idea for today combines two very powerful thoughts, both of major importance. It also sets forth a cause and effect relationship that explains why you cannot fail in your efforts to achieve the goal of the course. You will see because it is the Will of God. It is His strength, not your own, that gives you power. And it is His gift, rather than your own, that offers vision to you.

God is indeed your strength, and what He gives is truly given. This means that you can receive it any time and anywhere, wherever you are, and in whatever circumstance you find yourself. Your passage through time and space is not at random. You cannot but be in the right place at the right time. Such is the strength of God. Such are His gifts.

We will have two three-to-five-minute practice periods today, one as soon as possible after you wake, and another as close as possible to the time you go to sleep. It is better, however, to wait until you can sit quietly by yourself, at a time when you feel ready, than it is to be concerned with the time as such.

Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today slowly, with your eyes open, looking about you. Then close your eyes and repeat the idea again, even slower than before. After this, try to think of nothing except thoughts that occur to you in relation to the idea for the day. You might think, for example:

Vision must be possible. God gives truly,

or:

God's gifts to me must be mine, because He gave them to me.

Any thought that is clearly related to the idea for today is suitable. You may, in fact, be astonished at the amount of course-related understanding some of your thoughts contain. Let them come without censoring unless you find your mind is merely wandering, and you have let obviously irrelevant thoughts intrude. You may also reach a point where no thoughts at all seem to come to mind. If such interferences occur, open your eyes and repeat the thought once more while looking slowly about; close your eyes, repeat the idea once more, and then continue to look for related thoughts in your mind.

Remember, however, that active searching for relevant thoughts is not appropriate for today's exercises. Try merely to step back and let the thoughts come. If you find this difficult, it is better to spend the practice period alternating between slow repetitions of the idea with eyes open, then with eyes closed, than it is to strain to find suitable thoughts.

There is no limit on the number of short practice periods that would be beneficial today. The idea for the day is a beginning step in bringing thoughts together, and teaching you that you are studying a unified thought system in which nothing is lacking that is needed, and nothing is included that is contradictory or irrelevant.

The more often you repeat the idea during the day, the more often you will be reminding yourself that the goal of the course is important to you, and that you have not forgotten it.

𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑓 𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱 𐑒𐑪𐑥𐑚𐑲𐑯𐑟 𐑑𐑵 𐑝𐑧𐑮𐑦 𐑐𐑬𐑼𐑓𐑩𐑤 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕, 𐑚𐑴𐑔 𐑝 𐑥𐑱𐑡𐑼 𐑦𐑥𐑐𐑹𐑑𐑩𐑯𐑕. 𐑦𐑑 𐑷𐑤𐑕𐑴 𐑕𐑧𐑑𐑕 𐑓𐑹𐑔 𐑩 𐑒𐑷𐑟 𐑯 𐑦𐑓𐑧𐑒𐑑 𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑖𐑦𐑐 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑐𐑤𐑱𐑯𐑟 𐑢𐑲 𐑿 𐑒𐑨𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑓𐑱𐑤 𐑦𐑯 𐑘𐑹 𐑧𐑓𐑼𐑑𐑕 𐑑 𐑩𐑗𐑰𐑝 𐑞 𐑜𐑴𐑤 𐑝 𐑞 𐑒𐑹𐑕. 𐑿 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑕𐑰 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑪𐑟 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑞 ·𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑝 ·𐑜𐑪𐑛. 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 ·𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑧𐑙𐑔, 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑘𐑹 𐑴𐑯, 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑜𐑦𐑝𐑟 𐑿 𐑐𐑬𐑼. 𐑯 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 ·𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑜𐑦𐑓𐑑, 𐑮𐑨𐑞𐑼 𐑞𐑨𐑯 𐑘𐑹 𐑴𐑯, 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑪𐑓𐑼𐑟 𐑝𐑦𐑠𐑩𐑯 𐑑 𐑿.

·𐑜𐑪𐑛 𐑦𐑟 𐑦𐑯𐑛𐑰𐑛 𐑘𐑹 𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑧𐑙𐑔, 𐑯 𐑢𐑪𐑑 ·𐑣𐑰 𐑜𐑦𐑝𐑟 𐑦𐑟 𐑑𐑮𐑵𐑤𐑦 𐑜𐑦𐑝𐑩𐑯. 𐑞𐑦𐑕 𐑥𐑰𐑯𐑟 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑿 𐑒𐑨𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑕𐑰𐑝 𐑦𐑑 𐑧𐑯𐑦 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑯 𐑧𐑯𐑦𐑢𐑺, 𐑢𐑺𐑧𐑝𐑼 𐑿 𐑸, 𐑯 𐑦𐑯 𐑢𐑪𐑑𐑧𐑝𐑼 𐑕𐑻𐑒𐑩𐑥𐑕𐑑𐑨𐑯𐑕 𐑿 𐑓𐑲𐑯𐑛 𐑘𐑹𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑓. 𐑘𐑹 𐑐𐑨𐑕𐑦𐑡 𐑔𐑮𐑵 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑯 𐑕𐑐𐑱𐑕 𐑦𐑟 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑨𐑑 𐑮𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑩𐑥. 𐑿 𐑒𐑨𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑚𐑰 𐑦𐑯 𐑞 𐑮𐑲𐑑 𐑐𐑤𐑱𐑕 𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑮𐑲𐑑 𐑑𐑲𐑥. 𐑕𐑳𐑗 𐑦𐑟 𐑞 𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑧𐑙𐑔 𐑝 ·𐑜𐑪𐑛. 𐑕𐑳𐑗 𐑸 ·𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑜𐑦𐑓𐑑𐑕.

𐑢𐑰 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑑𐑵 𐑔𐑮𐑰-𐑑-𐑓𐑲𐑝-𐑥𐑦𐑯𐑦𐑑 𐑐𐑮𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑦𐑕 𐑐𐑽𐑾𐑛𐑟 𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱, 𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑨𐑟 𐑕𐑵𐑯 𐑨𐑟 𐑐𐑪𐑕𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤 𐑨𐑓𐑑𐑼 𐑿 𐑢𐑱𐑒, 𐑯 𐑩𐑯𐑳𐑞𐑼 𐑨𐑟 𐑒𐑤𐑴𐑕 𐑨𐑟 𐑐𐑪𐑕𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤 𐑑 𐑞 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑿 𐑜𐑴 𐑑 𐑕𐑤𐑰𐑐. 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑚𐑧𐑑𐑼, 𐑣𐑬𐑧𐑝𐑼, 𐑑 𐑢𐑱𐑑 𐑩𐑯𐑑𐑦𐑤 𐑿 𐑒𐑨𐑯 𐑕𐑦𐑑 𐑒𐑢𐑲𐑩𐑑𐑤𐑦 𐑚𐑲 𐑘𐑹𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑓, 𐑨𐑑 𐑩 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑢𐑧𐑯 𐑿 𐑓𐑰𐑤 𐑮𐑧𐑛𐑦, 𐑞𐑨𐑯 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑑 𐑚𐑰 𐑒𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑻𐑯𐑛 𐑢𐑦𐑞 𐑞 𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑨𐑟 𐑕𐑳𐑗.

𐑚𐑦𐑜𐑦𐑯 𐑞𐑰𐑟 𐑐𐑮𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑦𐑕 𐑐𐑽𐑾𐑛𐑟 𐑚𐑲 𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑰𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑓 𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱 𐑕𐑤𐑴𐑤𐑦, 𐑢𐑦𐑞 𐑘𐑹 𐑲𐑟 𐑴𐑐𐑩𐑯, 𐑤𐑫𐑒𐑦𐑙 𐑩𐑚𐑬𐑑 𐑿. 𐑞𐑧𐑯 𐑒𐑤𐑴𐑕 𐑘𐑹 𐑲𐑟 𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑰𐑑 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑩𐑜𐑧𐑯, 𐑰𐑝𐑩𐑯 𐑕𐑤𐑴𐑼 𐑞𐑨𐑯 𐑚𐑦𐑓𐑹. 𐑨𐑓𐑑𐑼 𐑞𐑦𐑕, 𐑑𐑮𐑲 𐑑 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑒 𐑝 𐑯𐑳𐑔𐑦𐑙 𐑦𐑒𐑕𐑧𐑐𐑑 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑩𐑒𐑻 𐑑 𐑿 𐑦𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑑 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑓 𐑞 𐑛𐑱. 𐑿 𐑥𐑲𐑑 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑒, 𐑓 𐑦𐑜𐑟𐑨𐑥𐑐𐑩𐑤:

𐑝𐑦𐑠𐑩𐑯 𐑥𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑚𐑰 𐑐𐑪𐑕𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤. ·𐑜𐑪𐑛 𐑜𐑦𐑝𐑟 𐑑𐑮𐑵𐑤𐑦,

𐑹:

𐑜𐑪𐑛'𐑟 𐑜𐑦𐑓𐑑𐑕 𐑑 𐑥𐑰 𐑥𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑚𐑰 𐑥𐑲𐑯, 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑪𐑟 ·𐑣𐑰 𐑜𐑱𐑝 𐑞𐑧𐑥 𐑑 𐑥𐑰.

𐑧𐑯𐑦 𐑔𐑷𐑑 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑒𐑤𐑽𐑤𐑦 𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑱𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑑 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑓 𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱 𐑦𐑟 𐑕𐑵𐑑𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤. 𐑿 𐑥𐑱, 𐑦𐑯 𐑓𐑨𐑒𐑑, 𐑚𐑰 𐑩𐑕𐑑𐑪𐑯𐑦𐑖𐑑 𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑩𐑥𐑬𐑯𐑑 𐑝 𐑒𐑹𐑕-𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑱𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑳𐑯𐑛𐑼𐑕𐑑𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑦𐑙 𐑕𐑳𐑥 𐑝 𐑘𐑹 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑒𐑩𐑯𐑑𐑱𐑯. 𐑤𐑧𐑑 𐑞𐑧𐑥 𐑒𐑳𐑥 𐑢𐑦𐑞𐑬𐑑 𐑕𐑧𐑯𐑕𐑼𐑦𐑙 𐑩𐑯𐑤𐑧𐑕 𐑿 𐑓𐑲𐑯𐑛 𐑘𐑹 𐑥𐑲𐑯𐑛 𐑦𐑟 𐑥𐑽𐑤𐑦 𐑢𐑪𐑯𐑛𐑼𐑦𐑙, 𐑯 𐑿 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑤𐑧𐑑 𐑪𐑚𐑝𐑾𐑕𐑤𐑦 𐑦𐑮𐑧𐑤𐑩𐑝𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑮𐑵𐑛. 𐑿 𐑥𐑱 𐑷𐑤𐑕𐑴 𐑮𐑰𐑗 𐑩 𐑐𐑶𐑯𐑑 𐑢𐑺 𐑯𐑴 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑨𐑑 𐑷𐑤 𐑕𐑰𐑥 𐑑 𐑒𐑳𐑥 𐑑 𐑥𐑲𐑯𐑛. 𐑦𐑓 𐑕𐑳𐑗 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑼𐑓𐑽𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑩𐑟 𐑩𐑒𐑻, 𐑴𐑐𐑩𐑯 𐑘𐑹 𐑲𐑟 𐑯 𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑰𐑑 𐑞 𐑔𐑷𐑑 𐑢𐑳𐑯𐑕 𐑥𐑹 𐑢𐑲𐑤 𐑤𐑫𐑒𐑦𐑙 𐑕𐑤𐑴𐑤𐑦 𐑩𐑚𐑬𐑑; 𐑒𐑤𐑴𐑟 𐑘𐑹 𐑲𐑟, 𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑰𐑑 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑢𐑳𐑯𐑕 𐑥𐑹, 𐑯 𐑞𐑧𐑯 𐑒𐑩𐑯𐑑𐑦𐑯𐑿 𐑑 𐑤𐑫𐑒 𐑓 𐑮𐑦𐑤𐑱𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑦𐑯 𐑘𐑹 𐑥𐑲𐑯𐑛.

𐑮𐑦𐑥𐑧𐑥𐑚𐑼, 𐑣𐑬𐑧𐑝𐑼, 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑦𐑝 𐑕𐑻𐑗𐑦𐑙 𐑓 𐑮𐑧𐑤𐑩𐑝𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑦𐑟 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑩𐑐𐑮𐑴𐑐𐑮𐑾𐑑 𐑓 𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱'𐑟 𐑧𐑒𐑕𐑼𐑕𐑲𐑟𐑩𐑟. 𐑑𐑮𐑲 𐑥𐑽𐑤𐑦 𐑑 𐑕𐑑𐑧𐑐 𐑚𐑨𐑒 𐑯 𐑤𐑧𐑑 𐑞 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑒𐑳𐑥. 𐑦𐑓 𐑿 𐑓𐑲𐑯𐑛 𐑞𐑦𐑕 𐑛𐑦𐑓𐑦𐑒𐑳𐑤𐑑, 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑚𐑧𐑑𐑼 𐑑 𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑯𐑛 𐑞 𐑐𐑮𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑦𐑕 𐑐𐑽𐑾𐑛 𐑷𐑤𐑑𐑼𐑯𐑱𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑚𐑦𐑑𐑢𐑰𐑯 𐑕𐑤𐑴 𐑮𐑧𐑐𐑦𐑑𐑦𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑟 𐑝 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑢𐑦𐑞 𐑲𐑟 𐑴𐑐𐑩𐑯, 𐑞𐑧𐑯 𐑢𐑦𐑞 𐑲𐑟 𐑒𐑤𐑴𐑟𐑛, 𐑞𐑨𐑯 𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑑 𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑱𐑯 𐑑 𐑓𐑲𐑯𐑛 𐑕𐑵𐑑𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕.

𐑞𐑺 𐑦𐑟 𐑯𐑴 𐑤𐑦𐑥𐑦𐑑 𐑪𐑯 𐑞 𐑯𐑳𐑥𐑚𐑼 𐑝 𐑖𐑹𐑑 𐑐𐑮𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑦𐑕 𐑐𐑽𐑾𐑛𐑟 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑢𐑫𐑛 𐑚𐑰 𐑚𐑧𐑯𐑦𐑓𐑦𐑖𐑩𐑤 𐑑𐑩𐑛𐑱. 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑓 𐑞 𐑛𐑱 𐑦𐑟 𐑩 𐑚𐑦𐑜𐑦𐑯𐑦𐑙 𐑕𐑑𐑧𐑐 𐑦𐑯 𐑚𐑮𐑦𐑙𐑦𐑙 𐑔𐑷𐑑𐑕 𐑑𐑩𐑜𐑧𐑞𐑼, 𐑯 𐑑𐑰𐑗𐑦𐑙 𐑿 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑿 𐑸 𐑕𐑑𐑳𐑛𐑦𐑦𐑙 𐑩 𐑿𐑯𐑦𐑓𐑲𐑛 𐑔𐑷𐑑 𐑕𐑦𐑕𐑑𐑩𐑥 𐑦𐑯 𐑢𐑦𐑗 𐑯𐑳𐑔𐑦𐑙 𐑦𐑟 𐑤𐑨𐑒𐑦𐑙 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑯𐑰𐑛𐑩𐑛, 𐑯 𐑯𐑳𐑔𐑦𐑙 𐑦𐑟 𐑦𐑯𐑒𐑤𐑵𐑛𐑩𐑛 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑦𐑟 𐑒𐑪𐑯𐑑𐑮𐑩𐑛𐑦𐑒𐑑𐑼𐑦 𐑹 𐑦𐑮𐑧𐑤𐑩𐑝𐑩𐑯𐑑.

𐑞 𐑥𐑹 𐑪𐑓𐑑𐑩𐑯 𐑿 𐑮𐑦𐑐𐑰𐑑 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑾 𐑛𐑫𐑼𐑦𐑙 𐑞 𐑛𐑱, 𐑞 𐑥𐑹 𐑪𐑓𐑑𐑩𐑯 𐑿 𐑢𐑦𐑤 𐑚𐑰 𐑮𐑦𐑥𐑲𐑯𐑛𐑦𐑙 𐑘𐑹𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑓 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑜𐑴𐑤 𐑝 𐑞 𐑒𐑹𐑕 𐑦𐑟 𐑦𐑥𐑐𐑹𐑑𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑑 𐑿, 𐑯 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑿 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑓𐑼𐑜𐑪𐑑𐑩𐑯 𐑦𐑑.