ACIM Chapter 3, V. Beyond Perception, P 1, 2

ACIM V. Beyond Perception, P 1, 2. Since the separation, the words “create” and “make” have become confused.

V. Beyond Perception, P 1

1 I have said that the abilities you possess are only shadows of your real strength, and that perception, which is inherently judgmental, was introduced only after the separation. No one has been sure of anything since. I have also made it clear that the resurrection was the means for the return to knowledge, which was accomplished by the union of my will with the Father’s. We can now establish a distinction that will clarify some of our subsequent statements.

Jesus, you said in this paragraph that the return to knowledge was accomplished by the union of your will with the Father’s Will. Is there anything you want me to know about that?

Jesus: You are confused about what this can mean. You wonder if you have never accepted that your will is the Father’s will because you do not feel anything momentous. This has been done, Myron. I have accepted the Father’s Will as our own. You do not need to do this. When I accomplished this union, it was done for all. Here is what you need to do. You need to allow your perceptions to be corrected to the degree that your mind can come into alignment with this holy Union.

Me: Ahh, I see. Thank you, Brother.

V. Beyond Perception, P 2

2 Since the separation, the words “create” and “make” have become confused. When you make something, you do so out of a specific sense of lack or need. Anything made for a specific purpose has no true generalizability. When you make something to fill a perceived lack, you are tacitly implying that you believe in separation. The ego has invented many ingenious thought systems for this purpose. None of them is creative. Inventiveness is wasted effort even in its most ingenious form. The highly specific nature of invention is not worthy of the abstract creativity of God’s creations.

What stands out to me in this paragraph is that when I make something, it is always out of the belief in lack. I think I need something, and this implies separation. When I know who I am, I will know there is no lack. There is nothing I could need because I have everything. Obviously, though I am learning differently, I still believe in separation. I still believe I need some things. This will be true for as long as I believe in this bodily identity. For instance, I will need to eat.

I Made the Need; I made the Solution

So how do I apply this idea now? The first thing that comes to mind is that it is not helpful to try to stop thinking “need” thoughts. I think I need a paycheck next week. I am not going to try to suppress this thought. I cannot stop thinking I need a paycheck. I can, however, realize that paychecks are something that we make to fill a perceived need.

When I think about needing a paycheck, it is because I think that if I don’t get one, I will not be able to survive. I need it to eat. I need it to buy clothes and gas for my car, which I need to get from one place to another. All of these needs are based on ideas I made to support the idea of separation.

I made the need. I made the solution. But no matter how many needs I solve, and no matter how clever I am in doing so, I will always make another need and conceive of another solution. I will never be satisfied. I will never feel safe. I will never feel full. This is because I still believe in lack and loss. The very act of trying to fill that emptiness reinforces the feeling of lack.

Another Way to See This

So here I am, in this world I made for the purpose of fulfilling a need so great and so deep that I cannot allow my mind to remember the source of this need. I will not make this need go away by filling the hole with more things I make up for that purpose. I will not fill it by thinking of more ingenious thought systems. I will not stop the desire to do this by trying to control this impulse through a separate will, no matter how strong I’ve trained that will to be.

I’ve learned to see this differently. Now when I need new clothes, I buy new clothes, but I don’t think they will make me happy or bring me peace. They are just clothes. Maybe they will be pretty or durable. Maybe they will fit well and serve the purpose of clothing the body. But I don’t think of them as my salvation. I no longer go shopping to fill some other need, such as the need to fill my time or as a distraction from upsetting thoughts or circumstances. I don’t buy clothes so that people think I am special in some way.

A Spiritual High Deflates

What seems to be working for me is to notice the feelings of neediness. For instance, yesterday, I talked about getting home from the conference and how I was still on a spiritual high. Well, those highs don’t last, and pretty soon, I noticed that periodically during the day, I would want to be with my kids. I would think of one of them and wonder if they were home from work yet and if I should invite myself over. I examined that feeling and realized it came not from love but from neediness. I thought I needed them to fill the hole in my heart.

I asked Holy Spirit to help me see this differently. I realized that while I was at the conference, I felt a sense of oneness because we were gathered for a single purpose. Now that I was home, the feeling of joining was missing. I mistook the hugs, smiles, and joy (symbols of the feeling of oneness) for Oneness. So, I was trying to make a replacement for that feeling by being with my kids and getting the hugs and smiles back.

Of course, the solution was not to avoid my children. The solution was to ask the Holy Spirit to correct my perception and to heal my mind of the belief that I lacked anything. I cannot be separate from love and separate from oneness. I cannot replace love and oneness by placing myself in close proximity to special people chosen for that purpose.

I Cannot Be Alone

The Holy Spirit is helping me to remember that I cannot be alone. I am part of a whole. That whole is available to me at all times if I do not block it from my awareness through the desire to be separate. A little thing that I am doing that is helping me to remember is this; when I feel lonely, I remind myself that loneliness is impossible.

I am surrounded by all that is. My angels and guides, my brothers and sisters in and out of body, are all around me all the time. I don’t remember how to feel them, but if I want their presence known to me, they can help me with that. They can make their love known to me. So far, what has happened is that when I ask for this reminder, I simply no longer feel lonely or alone. It is a subtle but sweet difference.

Anytime I feel needy and have the desire to fill that need with anything other than God’s Love, I ask the Holy Spirit to heal my mind. I accept that healing to the best of my ability at this time and know that the desire to remember the truth will bring the truth forward in my mind in perfect timing.

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