Hello Miracle Family,
A Course in Miracles Lesson 70 says, “My salvation comes from me.” Now that sounds simple… until you actually try to live it. Because most of us have been trained—very well trained—to believe the exact opposite. We’ve been taught that how we feel depends on what people do, what situations happen, and how life turns out. So the idea that your peace and your happiness come from you? That’s not just a new idea. That’s a complete reversal of how you’ve been taught to think.
And that’s why we don’t fully accept it.
Because if your salvation comes from you, then nothing outside you can save you—but here’s the part people don’t like—nothing outside you can mess you up either. That means nobody can ruin your day. Nobody can take your peace. Nobody can block your happiness. Now the ego hears that and says, “Wait a minute… I don’t know if I want that kind of responsibility.” Because the minute you accept that, blame is gone. And if blame is gone, then your upset is no longer justified.
And that’s where the compromise comes in.
The mind says, “Okay, I hear you… my peace comes from me… but this situation is really the problem.” That little “but” is everything. That’s the part that keeps you stuck. Because you’re trying to hold two systems at once. One says your happiness comes from within. The other says your happiness depends on something outside. And as long as you’re trying to hold both, you’re going to feel the conflict. Lesson 70 isn’t asking you to partially accept it. It’s asking you to notice every place you’re still handing your power over to the world.
And here’s the deeper part.
If the world is not the cause of how you feel, then what is it? Because most of us have built an identity around reacting, managing, defending, and controlling what’s happening. That identity depends on the belief that the world determines your experience. So when you start to take that belief back, it can feel disorienting. It can feel like something is being taken away.
But what’s actually happening is that something is being given back.
Practice: Find the Place You Gave the World Power
This week, don’t just repeat the lesson. Use it to expose where you are still making the world responsible for how you feel.
Name the situation that seems to be deciding your peace.
Write one sentence:
“I think I can’t be happy because ______.”
Identify what you are asking something outside yourself to give you.
Is it approval, safety, relief, validation, security, love, or control?
Consider why you want something outside yourself to be the answer.
“I am making this the source of my salvation because…”
Tell yourself the truth about this situation.
“In this situation, no one needs to change for me to be happy. My salvation/peace/happiness/freedom comes from me.”
Sit quietly for one minute without fixing anything.
Let the mind experience what it feels like to stop demanding something outside to save you.
You can still handle your business. You can still make the call, have the conversation, and deal with the situation. But you don’t have to let any of it decide how you feel. That’s the shift Lesson 70 is pointing to. And the more you practice it, the more you’ll begin to see—you were never at the mercy of the world to begin with.
Love,
Earl
P.S. If you need anything, I’m here. Just reach out: earlpurdy@earlpurdy.com
