Workbook · Part I
Lesson 65
My only function is the one God gave me.
What this lesson is saying
Today’s idea is: “My only function is the one God gave me.” In ordinary English: God gave you one job. The other jobs you invented are optional.
Function here means the job of a mind in a world of grievances: forgive where you are. Not a personality, not a stage, not being impressive. Light means a mind willing to love in the room it is already in. The day will offer replacements — winning, explaining, being owed. They are not the job.
You do not have to believe it first. You use the words on one real judgment — of someone, of yourself, of a situation — and then you take the next ordinary step.
This is not saying
This is not asking you to quit work or to announce that you are holy. Keep the ordinary jobs. Remember which one actually saves the hour: a dropped grievance, including toward yourself.
Why this can change a day
If your real job is being right, then other people are always in the way. If your real job is forgiveness, then the person who bothers you is the assignment, and peace is not waiting on a better cast.
In your day
Same idea, three ordinary places — a relationship or encounter, the case against yourself, and a situation at work or at home. You do not need a special mood.
With someone
Spiritual specialness — the costume, the glow, needing it known that you see.
What to do
Say the words as written: “My only function is the one God gave me.” Do one kindness no one will post. If you need it known, it was not this. Function is local — one face, one hidden hour.
Toward yourself
A delay that ‘proves’ the world is against you — traffic, a wait, a plan that stalled.
What to do
Say the words as written: “My only function is the one God gave me.” You have invented the meaning, not the asphalt. Take that invented law off for one hour. Speak to this day, not to the theory.
At work, at home, or in a situation
Anger or fear is on — this spike, now — and you are about to rehearse the argument.
What to do
Say the words as written: “My only function is the one God gave me.” Say the idea to the spike. Wait until the body drops half an inch. Then choose the next sentence from there. The caveat is the work.
Two voices in the same mind
Hear which one is running. Then today’s idea, on a real person — or on you.
Unloving thought
Light is a performance. They should notice. Forgiveness is a side project after the real work of being impressive.
Jesus’s way
“My only function is the one God gave me.” Your function did not change with the mood. It is local — one face, one hidden kindness. He will not let you wear it as a costume.
Spalding · 2019 · episode #263
Jesus’s commentary for Lesson 65
Tina reads the official workbook lesson first. Then she channels. The video is the source. The notes below are study notes of that sitting — not a transcript, and not A Year of Forgiveness.
After the reading
In the video · Jesus speaking
This is the channeled portion — after Tina has read the lesson. Study notes of that sitting. Not a transcript.
- On “My only function is the one God gave me” Jesus through Tina (2019) takes the workbook at its word and applies it to the programmed mind — culture, church, screens — not to a monastery.
- Then let the commentary speak to the resistance that comes up.
- After Tina reads Lesson 65, the channeling is living “My only function is the one God gave me.” He will not let it stay a slogan. Use these words. Do not swap them for a thought you like better.
- Function is local. Light here means the mind at a frequency that heals. He will not let you wear it as a costume at work.
How to sit today
Part I · Function
The idea is above. This is the one sitting this number asks — how often, how long, and the words. Not a second lesson.
- How often
- One sustained sitting at a time you set in advance, plus at least once an hour
- How long
- Ten to fifteen minutes for the longer sitting
- Through the day
- At least once an hour: “My only function is the one God gave me. I want no other and I have no other.”
- If you forget
- If the appointed time is truly impossible, do not ritualize a make-up. If you skipped because you did not want to, do it when you change your mind.
How
- This longer form continues for a number of days. Try to keep the same time each day.
- Review the idea, search out the other goals you have given yourself, and let them go. Then rest in the function God gave you. Do not strain.
Longer sitting
One sitting you set in advance — ten to fifteen minutes. Keep the same time on the days that follow
- Today’s idea is: “My only function is the one God gave me.”
- Review the idea. Search out the other goals you have given yourself, and let them go. Then rest in the function God gave you. Do not strain.
- Say, slowly: “My only function is the one God gave me.”
- If the appointed time is truly impossible, do not ritualize a make-up. If you skipped because you did not want to, do it when you change your mind.
Short / hourly
At least once an hour
- Say, slowly: “My only function is the one God gave me. I want no other and I have no other.”
These scripts follow the workbook’s own method for this number — duration, frequency, and the sentences it asks you to use. They are a study paraphrase, not a replacement. Read the official lesson at acim.org and follow any wording it gives that is more specific than this card.
Words you may not know
Full glossaryCourse words do not mean what church, psychology, or ordinary English usually mean. These notes are for this lesson — tap a word.
Other voices — Tina, Ra, Carla
Short notes from the four streams. The teaching above is the lesson. These are doors if you want them.
Spalding
On “My only function is the one God gave me” Jesus through Tina (2019) takes the workbook at its word and applies it to the programmed mind — culture, church, screens — not to a monastery. Do the exercise as written. Then let the commentary speak to the resistance that comes up. The resistance is the lesson.
Watch this lesson’s commentaryRa
This lesson is practice in polarizing with the person in front of you. Service to others is not a slogan. It is whether you treat them as the same being you are.
Open streamRueckert
A wanderer on Earth does not need a different lesson. She needs this one, done with her hands. Carla's whole archive is the proof: contact follows a life, it does not replace it.
Open stream