Today, we’re diving into Lesson 88 from A Course in Miracles. This is one of those review lessons: brief, powerful, and profoundly clarifying. The Course does this periodically: it pauses to review and reinforce earlier truths so they can deepen in us. Lesson 88 brings together two earlier ideas: “The light has come” (Lesson 75) and “I am under no laws but God’s” (Lesson 76).
These might seem like separate spiritual concepts at first glance. But as we reflect more deeply, we begin to see they are fundamentally connected, two sides of the same luminous coin.
Understanding Light and Darkness
The lesson emphasizes a choice between light and darkness. It suggests that light is the only true choice we have. Our perceived ability to choose darkness stems from being in a sleep state, allowing illusions to seem real. However, once we commit to choosing light, understanding it as the sole reality, we gradually awaken to a deeper truth.
The Light Has Come
Let’s begin with this idea: The light has come. Not is coming. Not will come. Has come. This is a declaration, not a request. It’s a statement of reality, not an aspiration.
The Course tells us plainly: attack and grievances aren’t really there. The only true choice we ever have is between truth and illusion, light and darkness. But here's the tricky part: because we are dreaming, we think we can choose darkness. And often we do. Not because we’re bad or broken, but because we’re asleep. Spiritually asleep.
Pain, trauma, confusion, they feel real. And I’m not making light of suffering. I’ve had my own moments. Some of you know I’ve dealt with serious health scares. I’ve worked with people who've endured war, abuse, illness. This isn’t theoretical. This isn’t sanitized.
But I want to be clear: the Course is saying that darkness has no real substance. It is a choice made in illusion. The light, however, is always there. It's the only thing that is real. When we train our minds to remember this, we accelerate our awakening. We reclaim our power. We step into reality, not the nightmare, but what the Course calls the real world, governed by God’s laws.
I Am Under No Laws but God’s
And what are those laws?
Peace. Joy. Freedom. Wholeness. Forgiveness. Grace.
God’s laws are not the laws of man. Not gravity, not finance, not health, not vengeance. The Course reminds us that we suffer only because we believe in laws that aren’t real. We invent them, assign them authority, and then suffer under their weight. But in truth, they have no power.
Let me make this real with an example. A simple one.
Sometimes I get sugar headaches. I’m talking about the kind that feel like a two-day hangover from something I barely indulged in: a couple pieces of chocolate, and boom. Head pounding. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. But when it does, it’s severe. And I’ve asked myself, "What’s going on here?"
In those moments, I’ll practice this principle. I’ll say to myself: This pain is not a result of God’s laws. This is coming from something else. Something I made up. A law I invented or inherited from the world.
Now, that doesn’t mean I’m denying the pain. I feel it. But I’m choosing to reinterpret it. I’m giving myself the opportunity to remember that who I really am can’t be touched by this. The Course teaches that the self that suffers is not our real Self. That perfect Self (the Christ within) is untouched, unharmed, eternal.
Again, not to trivialize real-life suffering. This is just one example. We all have our own. Mine may be a sugar headache. Yours might be heartbreak, illness, regret, financial stress, or grief.
But the deeper truth applies to all of it: I am under no laws but God’s.
What About the Consequences of Our Own Actions?
Let’s go deeper. A brilliant question came up recently: Are we subject to the effects of our own actions? What if we’ve done something we regret, something that’s harmed others? Is there real consequence, karmic punishment?
The Course answers this with elegant clarity. It says: within the dream, yes—we experience consequences. But the dream isn’t real. The ultimate truth is: there’s a part of you that has never been hurt and has never hurt anyone. That part of you (the eternal Self) remains as God created it. Untouched by guilt. Untouched by shame. Untouched by the past.
So what’s the fastest way to get from the place of guilt or pain back to the place of peace? The Course says it’s through remembering, affirming, and choosing the truth. That’s why these lessons matter. That’s why we do this practice. Because that shift, that miracle, can happen in an instant.
Bringing This to the World Around Us
Let me widen the lens.
The world right now is full of turmoil: political, environmental, emotional, spiritual. You’ve seen the headlines. Perhaps you’re living in the thick of it. The Trump-Musk split, the riots in Los Angeles, mass deportations, military movements, tragic crashes. The suffering is visible and visceral. People are hurting.
And in the midst of this, you and I are asked to choose light. Not passivity. Not denial. But a higher response.
The ego wants us to pick a side, escalate the conflict, sink into despair, or numb out entirely. But the Holy Spirit invites us to bring all of it. Every news story, every emotion, every tragedy, we can bring it all to the altar of light. To say: Let me allow God’s laws to govern this situation, not mine.
We can’t fix the world by fighting darkness with more darkness. But we can reduce suffering, ours and others’, by bringing light. By choosing forgiveness over blame, compassion over contempt, clarity over confusion.
Even in the most triggering of stories, even when we’re tempted to scroll endlessly, rant, or rage, we can pause and remember: The light in you is all I want to see. Even if “you” is someone I disagree with. Even if “you” is myself.
Practice Today
So let’s practice. Two simple affirmations, grounded in today’s review:
The light in you is all I want to see.
Let me allow God’s laws to work in this situation—not my own.
Use them liberally. Use them sincerely. Use them as anchors in the storm.
Whether you’re struggling with a sugar headache or the heartbreak of the evening news, bring your mind back to these truths. There is only one real choice: light. And you are under no laws but God’s.
Let that be your peace. Let that be your power.
