Lesson 167: “There is one life, and that I share with God.”

I. The Core Teaching

This lesson is a gentle but radical correction of what we think life is.

We usually think:

• “I am this body.”
• “My life began at birth and will end at death.”
• “Other people have their own separate lives, and those lives can affect or threaten mine.”

The Course says none of that is actually true. It calls this belief system the ego’s thought system: the idea that life is many, separate, fragile, and constantly under threat.

What the Ego Is Trying to Hide

The ego’s survival depends on one central lie: *separation is real.*

To keep this lie going, it must also teach that:

1. *Life is in the body.*

So if the body is hurt, “my life” is hurt. If the body dies, “my life” ends.

2. *Life is personal and private.*

“My” life is mine alone, and “your” life is yours alone. We can help or harm each other because we are different, separate beings.

3. *Life is vulnerable and temporary.*

Anything can happen at any time. You must defend yourself, protect your interests, and watch out for loss, sickness, and death.

The ego hides the truth that would dissolve it:

**Life is not in the body. Life is Spirit. Life is one, shared, eternal Being.**

If you fully accepted that:

• You could not fear death.
• You could not truly hate or attack another, because you’d know you share the same Life.
• You would not feel deprived, because you’d know you share in infinite Life.

So the ego constantly points to:

• Bodies aging, getting sick, and dying.
• Conflicts and differences between people.
• The apparent “evidence” that life is fragile and unfair.

It says: “Look! This is reality.”

But it is only showing you the movie of separation, not the truth behind the screen.

What the Holy Spirit Is Revealing

The Holy Spirit speaks for the truth of your Being. This lesson is His message:

“There is one Life, and that I share with God.”

This means:

1. *Life is not many; it is One.*

There are not billions of separate lives. There is one Life, one Being, one Mind, one Love, expressing Itself through all.

2. *Your real Life never began and will never end.*

The body’s birth and death are events in a dream. They do not touch the Life you are. You are as eternal as God, because your Life is God’s Life.

3. *You are not a visitor in God’s Life; you are that Life.*

Not as a separate little piece, but as a perfect extension of the one Life. Like a ray of light is not separate from the sun, you are not separate from God.

4. *Everyone shares this same Life.*

The person you fear, resent, or envy is not another life competing with yours. They are the same Life appearing in a different form. To attack them is to attack yourself.

The Holy Spirit is gently correcting your perception:

• When you see sickness, He whispers: “This does not touch the Life you are.”
• When you see conflict, He whispers: “You and your brother share one Life.”
• When you fear death, He whispers: “Nothing real can be threatened.”

II. Applied to Daily Life

Let’s bring this into the situations you know so well.

1. Relationships

*Common experience:*

You feel hurt, rejected, or abandoned. You think, “This person has damaged my life,” or “They have taken love away from me.”

*How this lesson helps:*

If there is one Life, and you share it with God, then:

• No one can truly take love from you, because Love is your very Being.
• No one can truly add to your worth, because your worth is given by God and shared with all.

You might say in a moment of hurt:

• “We share one Life. What I think you’ve taken from me is actually still in me, because it is in God.”
• “If we share one Life, then beneath this conflict, we are not enemies. We are one Self, confused about what we are.”

This doesn’t mean you stay in harmful situations. It means that *even as you set boundaries*, you remember:

• “I am not separate from you in truth. I am simply choosing not to participate in certain behaviors in form.”

2. Work and Career

*Common experience:*

Fear of failure, competition, jealousy of others’ success, anxiety about money and status.

The ego’s story: “Your life is your career, your achievements, your bank account.”

This lesson says:

• Your Life is not your job.
• Your Life is not your résumé.
• Your Life is not your income.

You can begin to think:

• “I share one Life with God. My real security is not in this job, but in the Life that cannot be threatened.”
• “If we all share one Life, then your success is not my loss. There is no real competition in truth.”

This loosens the grip of fear and comparison. You can still work, create, and contribute—but from a quieter, more trusting place.

3. Illness and the Body

*Common experience:*

Pain, illness, or fear about aging and death.

The ego uses the body as its main “proof” that life is fragile.

The Holy Spirit does not deny that you seem to feel pain or see sickness, but He reinterprets it:

• “This body is not the source of your Life.”
• “Your Life is untouched by this condition.”
• “You are not inside this body; the body is inside your mind, and your mind is held in God.”

You might gently say to yourself:

• “This body can be sick, but the Life I share with God cannot be sick.”
• “I will care for this body with kindness, but I will not call it ‘me.’”

This can bring surprising calm, even in the midst of symptoms.

4. Anxiety and Daily Stress

*Common experience:*

Worry about the future, about loved ones, about the world.

The ego says: “Your life is at risk. You must control everything.”

This lesson offers a different foundation:

• If there is one Life, and it is God’s, then it is already safe.
• What you truly are cannot be harmed by events, news, or circumstances.

You might pause during the day and say:

• “I feel anxious because I think my separate life is at risk. But there is one Life, and that I share with God.”
• “Let me rest for a moment in the Life that is completely safe.”

This doesn’t mean you ignore practical responsibilities. It means you do them from a place of inner safety, not fear.

III. Overcoming Resistance

This lesson can feel threatening to the ego because it challenges its core identity.

Common Fears

1. *“If I’m not this body, who am I?”*

The ego fears disappearing. It tells you that if you let go of your separate identity, you will become nothing.

The truth is the opposite: you will remember you are everything in God.

2. *“If life is one, does that mean my personal relationships don’t matter?”*

The ego hears “one Life” and thinks it means losing specialness.

The Holy Spirit says: your relationships become more meaningful, because you see them as holy encounters with your own Self, not as bargains between needy selves.

3. *“If my real Life can’t be hurt, does that mean my pain is being dismissed?”*

No. The Course never asks you to deny your feelings. It asks you to bring them to the Holy Spirit and let Him reinterpret them.

You can say: “I feel pain, and I am willing to remember that beneath this, I share one Life with God.”

How to Gently Move Through Resistance

• **Be honest:** “I’m afraid of this idea. I’m afraid of losing my familiar identity.”

Then add: “But I am willing to be shown, gently, that my true Identity is safe.”

• **Take it slowly:** You don’t have to fully understand or accept this lesson immediately. Just *lean* toward it. Even a small willingness opens the door.

• **Let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting:** Your job is willingness, not perfection. The Holy Spirit will use your daily experiences to show you, step by step, that you are more than you think.

IV. Today’s Practice

Here is a simple way to practice Lesson 167 today.

1. Morning Quiet Time (5–15 minutes)

1. Sit comfortably, close your eyes.

2. Take a few slow, gentle breaths.

3. Say slowly, with intention:

“There is one Life, and that I share with God.”

4. Let the words sink in. You don’t need to force belief—just let them be present in your mind.

5. If thoughts arise like, “But I’m this body,” or “What about death?” just notice them and gently respond:

“These are old thoughts. I am willing to see differently.”

6. Spend a few minutes simply resting with the idea that your Life is shared with God—unchangeable, eternal, safe.

2. Short Reminders During the Day

Several times an hour, or whenever you feel stress, pause briefly and say inwardly:

• “There is one Life, and that I share with God.”
• “My real Life cannot be threatened.”
• “We share one Life.”

Use it:

• Before a difficult conversation.
• When you feel anxious or rushed.
• When you notice judgment toward someone.

3. In Moments of Distress

If you feel fear, anger, grief, or physical pain:

1. Acknowledge the feeling: “I feel afraid / hurt / in pain.”

2. Add: “This is how it looks in the dream.”

3. Then say gently:

“Yet there is one Life, and that I share with God.

This feeling cannot change what I truly am.”

You are not trying to force the feeling away. You are simply placing it in a larger context.

4. Evening Reflection

Before sleep, take a minute to review your day:

• Where did I forget there is one Life?
• Where did I remember, even briefly?

Thank yourself for every small moment of willingness. Offer any remaining fear or confusion to the Holy Spirit:

“I don’t fully understand this yet, but I am willing to learn.

Show me, gently, what it means that I share one Life with God.”

V. Comparable ACIM Lessons

Several lessons echo and support Lesson 167:

• **Lesson 132: “I loose the world from all I thought it was.”**

Both invite you to question the world of separate lives and bodies.

• **Lesson 163: “There is no death. The Son of God is free.”**

167 and 163 go together: if there is one Life, and it is God’s, then death cannot be real.

• **Lesson 199: “I am not a body. I am free.”**

199 focuses on identity; 167 focuses on Life itself. Together they say: you are not a body, and the Life you are is shared with God.

• **Lesson 156: “I walk with God in perfect holiness.”**

If there is one Life and you share it with God, then you never walk alone. God’s Life walks as you.

• **Lesson 124: “Let me remember I am one with God.”**

Being one with God and sharing His Life are the same truth, expressed in different words.

VI. Closing Thought

You do not have to make this truth real. It is already real.

Your only task is to let it be remembered.

Today, let the words rest gently in your mind:

“There is one Life, and that I share with God.”

You don’t need to force belief. Just be willing to be shown, little by little, that your Life is far safer, deeper, and more beautiful than you ever imagined.