Lesson 98 from A Course in Miracles offers the central idea: “I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.” This lesson has a reassuring message at its heart. We each have a purpose, and that purpose is not reserved for a select few. None of us is a second-class participant in the divine plan. Whatever our background, circumstances, talents, limitations, or current understanding, there is a meaningful part for each of us to play.
That idea can be deeply comforting because it changes the question we often ask ourselves. Instead of constantly wondering whether we are doing enough, whether we are successful enough, or whether our lives measure up to someone else's, we can begin asking, What is mine to do? We can trust that our function will be revealed as we become willing to listen.
A Divine Plan Does Not Mean a Perfectly Predictable Life
When we hear the word “plan,” it is easy to imagine that everything has been predetermined. We might think that accepting a divine plan means knowing exactly what will happen tomorrow, next year, or ten years from now. The lesson points toward something more dynamic and intimate. The larger destination may be assured, while the route we take can change many times along the way.
A useful way to understand this is to think about GPS navigation. A GPS system has a larger picture of where we are and where we are trying to go, but it can still guide us through countless different routes. We may take a wrong turn, encounter construction, miss an exit, or decide to stop somewhere along the way. The destination does not necessarily disappear because the itinerary changes.
Our spiritual lives can work in much the same way. We may not know the precise circumstances through which we will grow, serve, heal, forgive, or awaken, but we can trust that every moment offers another opportunity to move in the direction of our ultimate purpose. We may take the long way around, or we may become willing to listen and discover a more direct path.
Lesson 71 makes this guidance remarkably practical. When we do not know what to do, we can turn inward and ask four simple questions:
What should I do?
Where should I go?
What should I say, and who should I say it to?
These questions bring the concept of divine purpose out of the abstract and into ordinary life. We do not have to know the entire plan. We only need to become willing to receive guidance about the next step.
Our Special Function Is Not About Being Special
There is an important distinction in the language of A Course in Miracles between a “special relationship” and a “special function.” A special relationship occurs when we make something within the world of form carry a role that it cannot fulfill. We can turn people, possessions, experiences, careers, status, or even our identities into substitutes for God, expecting them to provide the lasting peace and fulfillment that only a connection with the divine can provide.
Our special function is something entirely different. It is not about becoming more important than anyone else. In fact, it is almost the opposite. Our special function is the particular way in which we can contribute to healing and awakening. It is the role that allows our individual gifts and experiences to become useful within a greater purpose.
This means that we do not need to compete with one another spiritually. One person's function does not diminish another person's function. We are not auditioning for the same part. There is room for all of us, and the value of our contribution does not depend upon worldly recognition.
This is one of the most liberating aspects of the lesson. We can stop asking whether our life looks impressive enough and start asking whether we are willing to use our life for something greater than the ego's agenda.
The Ultimate Destination Is Awakening
From the perspective of A Course in Miracles, the larger journey is awakening from the illusion that we are separate from God and from one another. The course uses the examples of awakened beings such as Jesus and Buddha to point toward what is possible for all of us. Whether we understand reincarnation literally, metaphorically, or not at all, the larger idea remains relevant: our lives can be viewed as part of a continuing process of spiritual learning and awakening.
We can even think about this within the context of a single lifetime. Many of us have experienced periods in which we felt like entirely different versions of ourselves. We look back at who we were ten, twenty, or thirty years ago and recognize that we have already lived several different “lives” within this one life.
The transcript also explored reincarnation through the playful analogy of an actor appearing in many different films. An actor can portray countless characters while remaining the same underlying person. From this perspective, different versions of ourselves can be understood as playing different roles, with our conscious awareness focused on only one storyline at a time. Practices such as A Course in Miracles, Ho'oponopono, visualization, and guided imagery are presented as ways of accelerating healing and reducing the amount of wandering required on our journey.
Whether we take concepts such as quantum jumping literally or simply use them as metaphors for transformation, the practical invitation is powerful: we do not have to remain imprisoned by the version of ourselves we have known until now. We can ask what a wiser, more peaceful version of ourselves would choose, and then begin making that choice today.
Five Minutes That Can Change the Way We Experience an Hour
Lesson 98 makes its practice remarkably simple. We are invited to spend five minutes each hour accepting the happiness that has already been given to us and remembering our special function.
The lesson asks:
“Is it not worth five minutes of your time each hour to be able to accept the happiness that God has given you?”
It continues by asking whether five minutes is not worth the opportunity to recognize our special function and receive a reward “so great it has no measure.” Then comes the wonderfully direct observation:
“You have made a thousand losing bargains at the least.”
There is something almost humorous about this statement because we can probably recognize ourselves in it. How many times have we invested our time, energy, money, attention, or emotional resources into paths that ultimately did not give us what we hoped they would? We have all made choices that looked promising but led to disappointment. We have pursued goals that seemed essential only to discover that reaching them did not provide the peace we imagined.
Against that history, five minutes does not seem like much to ask.
The exercise is not about adding another overwhelming obligation to an already busy life. It is about creating small interruptions in our habitual thinking. Every hour, we can pause and remember that we are not required to figure everything out alone. We can breathe, become quiet, repeat the lesson, express gratitude, and reconnect with the possibility that our lives are being guided toward something more peaceful.
The lesson even encourages us to spend the rest of the hour preparing for the next five-minute period:
“Throughout the hour, let your time be spent in happy preparation for the next five minutes you will spend again with God.”
That creates a kind of spiritual snowball effect. The five-minute practice is not confined to those five minutes. The memory of it can influence the rest of the hour, and the repeated practice can gradually influence the way we approach an entire day.
From Scarcity to Abundance
This practice also connects with a profound principle of abundance. A pastor once shared a simple observation that stayed with us: somehow, when she gave more of her time to God, she seemed to have more time. When she gave some of her money, she seemed to have more money.
At first, this does not appear to make logical sense. We are accustomed to thinking in terms of scarcity. If we give something away, we have less of it. If we spend time on something, that time is gone. If we give money away, our bank balance decreases.
But there is another way of experiencing life. In an abundance mindset, what we give in alignment with love, generosity, and divine purpose can multiply rather than diminish. We discover that abundance is not merely a matter of having more possessions. It is a way of relating to life.
This is particularly relevant when we are tempted to believe that we do not have enough time, energy, wisdom, or resources to make a difference. We may think, I can barely keep up with my own life. How could I possibly help anyone else? Yet the spiritual invitation is to step out of the scarcity channel and experiment with another possibility: perhaps giving ourselves more fully to what matters actually opens us to more of what we need.
Bringing the Headlines to Atonement
These ideas become especially meaningful when we bring them into contact with the painful events unfolding around us.
The discussion referenced devastating flooding in Nepal, with people trapped and lives threatened by circumstances beyond their control. It also addressed reports of immigration enforcement activity in Danbury, Connecticut, and the fear and disruption experienced by families caught up in those circumstances. These are not abstract spiritual exercises. They involve real human beings experiencing fear, uncertainty, loss, and grief.
Then there were the deaths of cultural figures such as Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem, whose lives represented very different but significant forms of contribution and influence. Their passing invites us to consider what it means to live according to a purpose that extends beyond our individual circumstances. We can look at a person's life and ask what light they brought, what doors they opened, and what their presence made possible for others.
A Course in Miracles does not ask us to pretend that suffering is pleasant or that destructive circumstances do not matter. Instead, it invites us to bring what frightens us to a different level of understanding. The lesson from Lesson 38, “There is nothing my holiness cannot do,” becomes a reminder that our response to suffering can be more powerful than fear alone.
We may not know the perfect political solution to a humanitarian crisis. We may not know how to resolve immigration disputes, prevent natural disasters, or eliminate grief. But we can pray. We can extend compassion. We can offer practical help where we are able. We can refuse to add hatred to situations already filled with pain. We can ask for guidance about what our part is.
This is where the idea of a divine plan becomes practical again. We do not have to solve the entire world. We are asked to accept our part.
We Don’t Have to Do Everything at Once
One of the most important practical reminders from Lesson 98 is that we are not being asked to do every spiritual exercise simultaneously. A Course in Miracles contains 365 workbook lessons intended to be practiced sequentially. Some people may move through them in roughly a year, while others take longer, repeating lessons and allowing them to sink more deeply into their lives.
There is wisdom in this approach. We often encounter a powerful idea and immediately want to implement all of it. Then we discover another powerful idea and want to add that one too. Before long, our spiritual practice becomes another source of pressure.
We do not need to do that.
We can choose one lesson and stay with it. We can repeat a practice for thirty, sixty, or ninety days if that helps us internalize it. We can allow one idea to become less of something we intellectually understand and more of something we actually live.
Lesson 98 gives us an especially manageable place to begin.
A Call-to-Action: Just Take Five Minutes
We do not need to wait until life becomes peaceful before we practice peace. We can begin in the middle of the noise, the uncertainty, the headlines, the responsibilities, and the unanswered questions.
For one day, try the five-minute practice from Lesson 98. Set a reminder if that helps. When the reminder arrives, pause and reconnect with the idea:
“I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.”
Then become quiet and ask what your part might be in that moment. You might receive an answer about something you need to do, somewhere you need to go, something you need to say, or someone you need to reach. Or you might simply experience five minutes of gratitude and stillness.
If the language of God does not resonate with you, the practice can remain completely accessible. Spend five minutes in gratitude. Notice what is good. Breathe. Become present. Ask what would move you toward greater love, peace, and compassion.
Your invitation is simple:
Set aside five minutes each hour for one day to practice gratitude, stillness, and openness to guidance.
At the end of the day, notice what changed in the way you experienced yourself, other people, and the world around you.
We often assume that meaningful transformation requires a dramatic breakthrough. Sometimes it begins much more quietly. Sometimes it begins with five minutes.
The world may continue to present us with circumstances we cannot control. There will still be difficult headlines, painful transitions, uncertainty, and loss. But we can choose how we meet those circumstances. We can choose whether fear or love becomes the lens through which we interpret them. We can choose whether we try to carry the entire world on our shoulders or become willing to discover the small, meaningful part that belongs to us.
Lesson 98 reminds us that our purpose is not an achievement we have to earn. It is something we can learn to accept. We are invited to trust that our function will be filled in the right time and place, to release the belief that we have to figure everything out alone, and to remember that there is more abundance available to us than fear would have us believe.
Five minutes at a time, we can practice listening. Five minutes at a time, we can practice gratitude. Five minutes at a time, we can remember that we are part of something larger than our individual worries.
And perhaps, as we become willing to accept our part in the plan, we discover that peace was not something we had to chase down after all. It was something we were being invited to receive.
