ACIM Chapter 10. IV. The End of Sickness, P 3, 4

ACIM Chapter 10. IV. The End of Sickness, P 3, 4

V. The End of Sickness P 3

3 The Sonship cannot be perceived as partly sick, because to perceive it that way is not to perceive it at all. If the Sonship is one, it is one in all respects. Oneness cannot be divided. If you perceive other gods your mind is split, and you will not be able to limit the split, because it is the sign that you have removed part of your mind from God’s Will. This means it is out of control. To be out of control is to be out of reason, and then the mind does become unreasonable. By defining the mind wrongly, you perceive it as functioning wrongly.

Jesus says that the Sonship must be perceived as one, and that means no part of it can be perceived as sick. The mind will work correctly only in its whole state because wholeness is the only state of the mind in reality. I was thinking of my computer. If I open the computer up and remove a single part, the whole computer will cease to work as it is designed to, if it works at all.

How do I keep some part of the Sonship separate? I can see this happening when I hold a grievance against someone. The act of holding a grievance is an attack on the Sonship. It is the same as saying that this one is not part of the whole, and now the Sonship is missing a vital part. The mind no longer works as it should.

Nothing has happened in reality.

But we all know how painful it is in our experience when we think we have separated. It is important that I be aware that I cannot single out anyone and see that one as guilty. If I do, I have, in my mind, destroyed Wholeness. Or, to say it differently, I think I have destroyed God because He is no longer whole. It is a replay of the original error. We think we separated from God and often wonder why we would have made that choice. And yet, each time we hold a grievance against even one person, we are doing it again.

It works the same way within my thinking. Let’s say that I believe everything Jesus tells me and become willing to release all thoughts that are out of alignment with God’s Will. Well, all except for one idea, one ego belief that I think I need to hold onto, then I will not know my union with the Sonship. This is all or nothing. I am whole and a part of the Whole, or I am separate. In no moment can I be as God created me and what I made of myself.  To be as God created me, I must release all that I made to be different from what God created.

IV. The End of Sickness P 4

⁴ God’s laws will keep your mind at peace because peace is His Will, and His laws are established to uphold it. His are the laws of freedom, but yours are the laws of bondage. Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable, their laws cannot be understood together. The laws of God work only for your good, and there are no other laws beside His. Everything else is merely lawless and therefore chaotic. Yet God Himself has protected everything He created by His laws. Everything that is not under them does not exist. “Laws of chaos” is a meaningless term. Creation is perfectly lawful, and the chaotic is without meaning because it is without God. You have “given” your peace to the gods you made, but they are not there to take it from you, and you cannot give it to them.

This is what chaos looks like. As I was trying to fall asleep one night, I started thinking about some advice I gave a friend earlier in the day. The more I thought about it, I realized I needed to recant what I had said. It was not good advice. I thought about calling her first thing in the morning before she acted on it. I thought about what I would say and how I would phrase it. I replayed the original event in my mind. In other words, I obsessed about it until it grew all out of proportion.

I finally pulled myself out of it.

I asked the Holy Spirit to remind me to call in the morning and to direct my words. For a moment, I was at peace. Then I started thinking about an upcoming medical test, and I obsessed about that for a while. And so on, for way too long. I wound up feeling like everything in my life was wrong, and then it went downhill from there.

My mind was chaotic with nonsense thoughts. This is the law of the ego. It is the natural consequence of seeing each person, thing, and circumstance as separate from each other and each requiring its own specific solution. It becomes a never-ending job and an impossible job. There is no peace when I look at the world with the ego mind.

Peace came when I asked for help to see clearly.

I thought of the co-worker and gave the uncertainty and regret to the Holy Spirit. I thought of the upcoming test and gave the Holy Spirit the anxiety it evoked. And I did this with each emotional response to the worries and fears and all the guilt that accompanied them. I asked for His judgment on each in place of my own judgment.

In each case, He reminded me that I am loved and guided through every problem life presents. His judgment of each circumstance was the same. God still loves me, and this is not His Will. I am innocent and as perfect as the moment I was created.  Each person in my worried mind is innocent and perfect. No matter what thorny problem I bring Him, His answer is the same. I can choose to live under the chaotic laws of the ego, or I can choose to live under the laws of Peace. Always, it is up to me. Because I have been vigilant in bringing all problems to Him, these moments of chaotic thinking now happen only once in a while.

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