ACIM T. 3. VII. Creating versus the Self Image, P 6. The branch that bears no fruit will be cut off and will wither away. Be glad!
ACIM T. 3. VII. Creating versus the Self Image, P 6
6 VII. Creating versus the Self-Image, P 6
6 The branch that bears no fruit will be cut off and will wither away. Be glad! The light will shine from the true Foundation of life, and your own thought system will stand corrected. It cannot stand otherwise. You who fear salvation are choosing death. Life and death, light and darkness, knowledge and perception, are irreconcilable. To believe that they can be reconciled is to believe that God and His Son can not. Only the oneness of knowledge is free of conflict. Your kingdom is not of this world because it was given you from beyond this world. Only in this world is the idea of an authority problem meaningful. The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth can be known by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for whom it waits.
No More Pretending to Be Ignorant
I absolutely believe every word in the Course. Either it is all true, or none of it is to be trusted. When I first read this and other passages like it, I believed that the world was not real and that I would eventually forgive it and return to God. I believed it, but I didn’t know it. My mind made exceptions to what I understood or simply would not understand all Jesus was telling me. And while I had no doubt that I would wake up, I could not envision that happening anytime soon. Of course, now I understand that all of this doubt was just a delaying tactic. It was my defense against God. It was a branch that bore no fruit.
I am not feigning ignorance anymore. At least, I am not doing so as much as I used to. Now when it seems confusing to me, or when I can’t seem to let go, I am fully aware that it is by design, even if I don’t understand my own reluctance. I would swear to you that all I want is to wake up, and yet, here I am, feeling frustrated that I am fighting for the right to be miserable so that I can keep the story of a separate self going a little longer. I don’t understand myself.
Crazy Thinking
I am awake enough, though, to know this is possible and not far away. I am awake enough that no matter what the circumstances show me, I know they are not true. But not awake enough to disregard them in every case. I still get afraid, feel guilty and make judgments. The difference is that I watch myself do this and know it’s crazy. I know to ask for the Atonement and accept it to the degree I can. I never, ever believe my anger, fear, and guilt are justified. No matter how upset I may be, I never stop listening to the Holy Spirit.
I used to have doubts and uncertainties, but now it is more like confusion. I have been working on food and body issues, and it was really kicking my butt for a long time. It seems that I have some very fixed ideas about food and the body. I had trouble letting those go. I didn’t doubt I was wrong, and I didn’t doubt that I would succeed. My confusion was about how I was to see this and feeling guilty when I failed. Of course, that meant I was judging the situation and judging myself. This showed me I still believed in guilt, and I still clung to judgment.
I have been applying this to pain, sickness, and medicine. One day, I got myself into a state over whether I should be taking medicine or going to the doctor. I felt guilty when I resorted to magic, yet it seemed I needed it. I was confused about the whole thing, so I sat with Jesus and asked him to help me. When I surrendered, I stopped trying to figure it out myself and asked what I should do. This is the message I got.
Jesus Clarifies This for Me
Jesus: Myron, stop scaring yourself. It does not matter if you take the pill or not. It doesn’t matter if you go back to dieting. You are innocent regardless of any decision you make. Your immortal soul is not in danger. It does not matter what you eat or what magic you use. Just do this: When you diet, remind yourself that nothing that goes into the mouth of the body has any effect on it. It is only your mind that can affect the body.
Every time you take your pill, remind yourself that this pill only does what you want it to do. It has no power outside your mind. It does what you believe it will do, and nothing else. You could just as easily say what you want and have it occur without these “helpers.” Go on the diet and take the pill. Then ask for healing of the mind that believes it is guilty of believing it needs the diet and the pill. Forgive yourself for wanting to be thinner, and forgive yourself for caring how your body looks.
He Tells Me All That Is Required
You have become confused because you started believing that you need to change your own mind. Instead, go back to noticing, without guilt, without concern of any kind, what the ego mind wants. Notice the guilt and the fear when it arises. When you notice these things, ask the Holy Spirit to heal your mind and accept His healing.
That is all that is required of you. You have done this many times and know it is effective. You also know that it is the only thing you have ever done that has worked for you. There is no hierarchy of illusions, and you are not guiltier for your imagined sin of dieting and taking medicine, no more than you are for anything you do.
As soon as I heard this message, my mind cleared, and what Jesus said became obvious to me. I don’t know why I forgot that and why I thought this one thing should be different from any of the other healings I have experienced. I went back to the process, knowing that I did not have to stop myself from doing anything and that as I allowed my mind to be healed, whatever needed to be done in the world, would be done. It would not be an effort or a struggle because I would want it.
It is only when my mind is conflicted that fear and guilt arise, and it is only when I am conflicted about what I want that I become confused. After I stopped trying to heal myself and listened to his words, I became very calm and peaceful. That is the miracle. I did nothing to make myself peaceful except to ask for healing. The peace was just there.
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