Hello Miracle Family,

In the video “How to Find Inner Peace: My Happiness Comes From Me | A Course in Miracles Lesson 70,” we're working with: “My salvation comes from me.” Here, salvation is not about some distant religious rescue. It is another way of talking about peace, happiness, forgiveness, and innocence, which means the lesson is pointing you back to the mind instead of the world.

That can really get under your skin if you let it. If guilt is in your mind, then a lot of the suffering you still call normal may actually be self-punishment.

Most people do not think of it that way. They just think they are having a hard time, making mistakes, dealing with difficult people, or going through one more painful cycle.

But if guilt is active in the mind, then punishment starts to feel deserved. You may call it stress, delay, self-doubt, fear, settling, or struggle, but underneath it can still be the same old belief that pain is somehow appropriate.

That is why innocence matters so much. Innocence is not pretending nothing happened. Innocence is the end of the belief that you have to suffer before you are allowed to receive love, peace, or happiness.

This takes the teaching to a deeper place. It is one thing to say your peace comes from you. It is another thing to notice the ways you still punish yourself and then call it life.

You can see it in the relationship you know is not right but keep holding on to. You can see it in the way you talk to yourself, the way you delay joy, and the way you brace for something to go wrong the minute something good begins.

When you accept innocence, you stop asking for punishment. That does not mean everything changes in a flash, but it does mean you stop making pain into proof that you are being honest, spiritual, or responsible.

Short Practice

• Bring one area of your life to mind where there is strain.

• Ask: How am I punishing myself here?

• Ask next: What am I believing that makes this punishment feel deserved?

• Then sit quietly and repeat: My innocence is in my mind too.

• Rest there for a minute without trying to fix anything.

A lot can change when you stop assuming suffering is part of the deal.

A quick note for this weekend: I’ll be traveling, so there will be no class on Sunday, 4/19.

Love,
Earl

P.S. If you need anything, I’m here. Just reach out: earlpurdy@earlpurdy.com