1. To extend is a fundamental aspect of God which He gave to His Son. 2In the creation, God extended Himself to His creations and imbued them with the same loving Will to create. 3You have not only been fully created, but have also been created perfect. 4There is no emptiness in you. 5Because of your likeness to your Creator you are creative. 6No child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately by projecting. 7The inappropriate use of extension, or projection, occurs when you believe that some emptiness or lack exists in you, and that you can fill it with your own ideas instead of truth. 8This process involves the following steps:
9First, you believe that what God created can be changed by your own mind.
10Second, you believe that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or lacking.
11Third, you believe that you can distort the creations of God, including yourself.
12Fourth, you believe that you can create yourself, and that the direction of your own creation is up to you.
2. These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the separation, or the “detour into fear.” 2None of this existed before the separation, nor does it actually exist now. 3Everything God created is like Him. 4Extension, as undertaken by God, is similar to the inner radiance that the children of the Father inherit from Him. 5Its real source is internal. 6This is as true of the Son as of the Father. 7In this sense the creation includes both the creation of the Son by God, and the Son’s creations when his mind is healed. 8This requires God’s endowment of the Son with free will, because all loving creation is freely given in one continuous line, in which all aspects are of the same order.
3. The Garden of Eden, or the pre-separation condition, was a state of mind in which nothing was needed. 2When Adam listened to the “lies of the serpent,” all he heard was untruth. 3You do not have to continue to believe what is not true unless you choose to do so. 4All that can literally disappear in the twinkling of an eye because it is merely a misperception. 5What is seen in dreams seems to be very real. 6Yet the Bible says that a deep sleep fell upon Adam, and nowhere is there reference to his waking up. 7The world has not yet experienced any comprehensive reawakening or rebirth. 8Such a rebirth is impossible as long as you continue to project or miscreate. 9It still remains within you, however, to extend as God extended His Spirit to you. 10In reality this is your only choice, because your free will was given you for your joy in creating the perfect.
4. All fear is ultimately reducible to the basic misperception that you have the ability to usurp the power of God. 2Of course, you neither can nor have been able to do this. 3Here is the real basis for your escape from fear. 4The escape is brought about by your acceptance of the Atonement, which enables you to realize that your errors never really occurred. 5Only after the deep sleep fell upon Adam could he experience nightmares. 6If a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming a fearful dream, he may initially interpret the light itself as part of his dream and be afraid of it. 7However, when he awakens, the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which is then no longer accorded reality. 8This release does not depend on illusions. 9The knowledge that illuminates not only sets you free, but also shows you clearly that you are free.
5. Whatever lies you may believe are of no concern to the miracle, which can heal any of them with equal ease. 2It makes no distinctions among misperceptions. 3Its sole concern is to distinguish between truth on the one hand, and error on the other. 4Some miracles may seem to be of greater magnitude than others. 5But remember the first principle in this course; there is no order of difficulty in miracles. 6In reality you are perfectly unaffected by all expressions of lack of love. 7These can be from yourself and others, from yourself to others, or from others to you. 8Peace is an attribute in you. 9You cannot find it outside. 10Illness is some form of external searching. 11Health is inner peace. 12It enables you to remain unshaken by lack of love from without and capable, through your acceptance of miracles, of correcting the conditions proceeding from lack of love in others.