ACIM Chapter 11. VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 9, 10

ACIM Chapter 11. VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 9, 10

VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 9

⁹ Ask anything of God’s Son and his Father will answer you, for Christ is not deceived in His Father and His Father is not deceived in Him. Do not, then, be deceived in your brother, and see only his loving thoughts as his reality, for by denying that his mind is split you will heal yours. Accept him as his Father accepts him and heal him unto Christ, for Christ is his healing and yours. Christ is the Son of God Who is in no way separate from His Father, Whose every thought is as loving as the Thought of His Father by which He was created. Be not deceived in God’s Son, for thereby you must be deceived in yourself. And being deceived in yourself you are deceived in your Father, in Whom no deceit is possible.

Jesus says that when I believe something about our brother that is not true, then I believe the same about myself, and I am deceived in my Father as well. If I look at a sick brother and believe in his sickness, then I am deceived in him. If I hear him say something that seems misguided and believe in his confusion, then I am deceived in him. He is the Son of God, and thus, he has the truth in him, and all else is an illusion. Let me see the truth rather than the illusion.

What I see in my brother, I will see in myself.

If I believe in sickness, for instance, I will inevitably experience sickness because what I believe is true for myself. If I think that someone is attacking me, I believe in attack. I will then defend myself and inevitably attack others. This is how we maintain the illusion by believing in it.

Since I am created by God and thus forever a part of God, when I see something in my brother or myself that is not God, this is perceived in my mind as an attack on God. It feels like I am pulling myself out of God all over again. Or it feels like I am redefining God, making Him something I want him to be; it feels like I am making myself the creator of God. This necessarily triggers fear and guilt.

What a perfect reading for me this morning. I read a posting on Facebook that I strongly disagreed with. It felt like an attack on me because I saw it as an attack on my beliefs. Even as these thoughts were appearing in my mind, I knew they were nonsense. First, I saw that I had a strong personal opinion that I was defending as a truth. I saw the error in that. I don’t really know anything, and my assumptions are not the truth, so why would I want to defend them?

Second, I am not my beliefs.

So why was I seeing this seeming attack on my beliefs as an attack on me? Obviously, I really do believe I am my beliefs. So, I let myself feel this reaction fully without trying to cover it up with the spiritual truths that I have learned. I noticed how fiercely I defended myself and how much rage was hiding behind the veil my spiritual ego uses to pretend it is a nice ego, too nice to be enraged.

Next, I tried to push the attack thoughts aside. I tried to say that now that I see them, I can reject them, and they will be gone. But they just kept popping up in words that sounded different but were equally deceptive. At one time, this would have felt scary to me because what was I to do if I couldn’t let this go? But I don’t want to be deceived in my brother, in myself, or in God. I don’t want to believe that deception is in my brother or me, and I certainly don’t want to believe it is in God.

I asked the Holy Spirit to heal my mind.

And I accepted the Atonement in this situation. Another way to say it is that I forgave myself and my error. I forgave my brother and my fear that, in my ignorance, I had offended God. The Holy Spirit wiped my mind clear of the offense. The facts are still there. I read what this person wrote, but there is no need for it to be different. There is nothing in me that wants to respond, correct, or convince. In this situation, I am not deceived in my brother. As it turned out, the error was in my mind, not his, and it has been undone. I am free!

VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 10

¹⁰ In the real world there is no sickness, for there is no separation and no division. Only loving thoughts are recognized, and because no one is without your help, the Help of God goes with you everywhere. As you become willing to accept this Help by asking for It, you will give It because you want It. Nothing will be beyond your healing power, because nothing will be denied your simple request. What problems will not disappear in the Presence of God’s Answer? Ask, then, to learn of the reality of your brother, because this is what you will perceive in him, and you will see your beauty reflected in his.

“In the real world there is no sickness, for there is no separation and no division.”

So, sickness is caused by separation and division. In the real world, the world we attain as we awaken, there is no thought of separation or division, and so there is no sickness. Sickness takes many forms. For instance, there are sick relationships, special relationships that are dysfunctional, and “giving to get” relationships.

There are sick finances, the idea that lack is real, and that one is so guilty that one deserves lack and loss. If we believe in lack and loss, then it will take form in the world, and sometimes that will look like financial poverty, and sometimes it will look like a poverty of love or of health. All these are just different forms of the belief in separation, the belief we could be separate from and different from our Creator.

As we allow these false thoughts to be corrected, we wake up from these beliefs, and we see the world differently. What used to look like an attack now seems to be merely the effect of a confused mind, and behind that confusion is perfect innocence. This is an indication, I think, that the world is shifting from sickness to a healed world, a happy world, a real world. It all happens within the mind because that is where everything exists.

“As you become willing to accept this Help by asking for It, you will give It because you want It.”

All help comes through the Holy Spirit in our minds, and to receive that Help, we need only ask for It. We can and are encouraged to ask all the time in every circumstance. Because I pay attention and am vigilant for the thoughts of ego that show up in my mind, I see them all the time. It can feel discouraging unless I turn to the Holy Spirit for help.

Sometimes, I need to stop for just a moment and sit in silence as I wait for the healing I desire. I’m not good at silence; my mind is still too unruly for that, but evidently, it doesn’t take the Holy Spirit long to do Its job. I accept the Help, and my mind becomes healed of some aspect of wrong minded thinking, and I am free until I notice another thought that still has meaning for me. When I value anything, I am attracted to it, and my belief in it makes it real for me. That is why I need help to release it, and all I need to do is want the help, want the release, and then accept it when it is offered.

“Nothing will be beyond your healing power, because nothing will be denied your simple request. What problems will not disappear in the Presence of God’s Answer?”

There are no exceptions to God’s healing through His Answer, so I make no exceptions in what I ask. All errors are to be healed. No compromise in this.

I understand that the problem isn’t the situation or the other person. It is the belief behind the apparent problem. This belief is the cause, and the effect is my life as I experience it. So, I become aware of the problem by paying attention to my feelings. Then, I follow that problem to the belief that sourced it. For instance, if I am angry at someone, I ask the Holy Spirit for clarity about this. He always shows me my judgment, which helps me see my beliefs.

Or I become aware of what it is that this feeling triggers in me. Maybe I feel neglected or unfairly treated. Then, I knew that the feeling that I wanted to experience was being neglected, abandoned, or unfairly treated. Once I know what it is that I want, I see the belief that caused it. The belief in unfairness, neglect, and abandonment which is actually the belief that I am separate from God and His Creation. Then, I can ask for God’s Answer to undo this.

“Ask, then, to learn of the reality of your brother, because this is what you will perceive in him, and you will see your beauty reflected in his.”

Always, always, we come to this. To be healed, I must desire healing for all. I am never healed alone. The healing of the mind reveals my beauty. However, it must be revealed in my brother, or I will remain unaware of it in myself.

My anger or frustration, any emotion that indicates I have judged my brother, is an indication that my mind needs to be healed. I am fully cognizant that it is never about him. This is so no matter how much proof I come up with to justify my judgment. The same thing applies to seeing my brother sick, poor, or heartbroken. If I believe these things are him, I will block my own freedom.

I am learning that “caring” about my brother’s condition is not love; it is hate. It is a sign that my mind remains sick and needs God’s Answer to heal it. When my mind looks at a sick brother and sees only a confused mind, I know that I am getting better. I know that my mind is healing.

I look past his confusion and see only the beauty and magnificence that is his true nature. That is how I know my mind is healed. I have had moments of this and am speaking from experience. I have not yet been able to hold onto this or see clearly in every case, so I know that I am not done. But I am willing, and so I continue to practice. I continue to ask for His Answer and to accept It as I can.