ACIM Chapter 12. III. The Investment in Reality, 1-4

ACIM Chapter 12. III. The Investment in Reality, 1-4

III. The Investment in Reality, P 1

1 I once asked you to sell all you have and give to the poor and follow me. This is what I meant: If you have no investment in anything in this world, you can teach the poor where their treasure is. The poor are merely those who have invested wrongly, and they are poor indeed! Because they are in need it is given you to help them, since you are among them. Consider how perfectly your lesson would be learned if you were unwilling to share their poverty. For poverty is lack, and there is but one lack since there is but one need.

This is an interesting paragraph. Jesus is explaining the purpose of a biblical quote and the meaning behind the words. In the Bible, he was quoted as having asked that a man sell all he had and give it to the poor in order to follow him. What he meant was that his followers should give up their investment in the world. Selling material possessions would be a symbol of having given up the love or need of them, that is, giving up the attachment to the world of form.

What would be the meaning behind giving to the poor?

He tells us here that the poor are all who fail to know where their treasure lies. If we have no investment in the world, we can teach others through our words, our deeds, and through our freedom. We could not teach freedom unless we were free. I could talk all day about being free from the world, but if my life showed that I valued the world and all it offers, I would only be teaching confusion.

As long as we think there is something to long for, some need as yet unmet, we are not free. The need is poverty; it is the expression of lack. There is only one thing we need, and that is our awakening. Once we let go of the attachment to the things we own, and the things we want to own, we are free to follow Jesus to our awakening. Otherwise, our energy will go toward fulfilling these “needs.”

Does this mean that I should sell all my belongings and my house and walk the earth unburdened by them? Being without things will not bring me to the awakening. If I were without all these things and felt poor for it, I would not be free. However, being without the need for these things will allow me to discover my true treasure. I can have a lovely home and many beautiful things and enjoy them without needing them. This leaves my mind free and open to what does matter. It is not things that tie me to the world. It is the need for these things that do that.

III. The Investment in Reality, P 2

2 Suppose a brother insists on having you do something you think you do not want to do. His very insistence should tell you that he believes salvation lies in it. If you insist on refusing and experience a quick response of opposition, you are believing that your salvation lies in not doing it. You, then, are making the same mistake he is, and are making his error real to both of you. Insistence means investment, and what you invest in is always related to your notion of salvation. The question is always twofold; first, what is to be saved? And second, how can it be saved?

I have a brother who is very religious. He believes as strongly in his version of religion as I do in A Course in Miracles. It used to be that when we were together, we tried not to talk about the only thing that really mattered to us since we seemed to have no meeting place on this subject. Over time, I have made a different choice. I don’t bring up religion, but if he wants to talk about it, I let him. I open my mind to the Holy Spirit in him and listen.

He thinks this is where his salvation lies; that is, sharing his beliefs with me is salvation to him. To refuse to hear him would mean that I think not hearing his beliefs is my salvation. When I close my ears to him, I am making the same mistake he is and making our error real to us both. I know that A Course in Miracles is not the only path home, and I know that where he is on his path is perfect for him at this time.

So why would I resist his words?

He is sharing his joy; why wouldn’t I accept his gift gladly and in gratitude that he loves me and wants me to have it? Am I invested in the idea that my way is the only way? If so, I have a thought in my mind that I can bring to the Holy Spirit to be healed. I don’t have to join him in his beliefs, but I can be a listener. God honors our miscreations simply because they are ours. That doesn’t mean he accepts them as truth. I can emulate that generosity and love and honor my brother’s ideas whether I embrace them or not. I can do that in politics as well.

III. The Investment in Reality, P 3

3 Whenever you become angry with a brother, for whatever reason, you are believing that the ego is to be saved, and to be saved by attack. If he attacks, you are agreeing with this belief; and if you attack, you are reinforcing it. Remember that those who attack are poor. Their poverty asks for gifts, not for further impoverishment. You who could help them are surely acting destructively if you accept their poverty as yours. If you had not invested as they had, it would never occur to you to overlook their need.

I remember when I used to be very afraid of many things and felt guilty about even more. As a result, I attacked myself and others all the time. I was impoverished, not knowing who I was. I felt small and frail and vulnerable and so I felt the need to defend myself. Not so much now. I can still forget my identity and become defensive against others, many of who are as impoverished as I once was. But most of the time, I recognize their need, and instead of making them feel poorer, I offer them the love they think they lack.

I don’t do this perfectly, but when I attack, usually in my mind only now, I see what is happening, and I ask for healing. If I am upset by their attack, it can only be because I believe in my poverty as well as theirs, and I am making it feel more real to both of us. As I write about this, it all seems so straightforward and simple, and I think I know exactly how I will react, but I have seen from experience that if there is fear or guilt in my mind, I will act from that.

One night when I was still working, I was at a meeting.

I noticed that my competitor was there, talking to my customer. They were sitting together and laughing, and I felt a knot of fear in my belly. I was impoverished and knew it. It was easy that night to release that false thought to Spirit, but it is not always so easy. When it is hard, it just means there is a lot of fear in my mind that I need to let go.

It is never about the other person or the circumstances, only about my own mind. When I remember that, I can be a healing channel for us all. When I forget, I have an opportunity to choose again. Each time I choose God, my memory of reality gets stronger, and it is easier to remember the next time.

III. The Investment in Reality, P 4

4 Recognize what does not matter, and if your brothers ask you for something “outrageous,” do it because it does not matter. Refuse, and your opposition establishes that it does matter to you. It is only you, therefore, who have made the request outrageous, and every request of a brother is for you. Why would you insist in denying him? For to do so is to deny yourself and impoverish both. He is asking for salvation, as you are. Poverty is of the ego, and never of God. No “outrageous” requests can be made of one who recognizes what is valuable and wants to accept nothing else.

What I understand from this is that my brother is always asking for love, and that is what I want to give him. There is no circumstance in which love is not the answer.  Here is an example of how I made a choice for love in my life.

When I left my husband, he wanted me to come back. 

I couldn’t understand why he wanted that. When I asked him if he was happy in the marriage, he admitted he wasn’t, and yet he thought he wanted the marriage to continue. What I eventually recognized was that what he really wanted was to be loved.

It took us a while to work this out because I was confused about how to do this and still not be married to him. Finally, I did my own mind-healing work, and I forgave the relationship completely. When I did this, he began to feel the forgiveness, and then I was led to apologize to him for my part in the relationship. This was the thing he needed to hear.

I couldn’t do it at first because I thought it was outrageous to apologize. I believed in his guilt, and so no matter what I said, that belief was what he heard. Once I truly let the grievance go, I just naturally gave him what he needed.  He never apologized to me for his part, but that is OK. I didn’t need an apology because I no longer believed in his guilt. We are friends now, and he is happily married to someone else.

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