ACIM 5. III. The Guide to Salvation, P 4-7. The Voice of the Holy Spirit is weak in you. That is why you must share It. It must be increased in strength before you can hear It.
ACIM Chapter 5. III. The Guide to Salvation, P 4-7
III. The Guide to Salvation, 4
4 The Voice of the Holy Spirit is weak in you. That is why you must share It. It must be increased in strength before you can hear It. It is impossible to hear It in yourself while It is so weak in your mind. It is not weak in Itself, but It is limited by your unwillingness to hear It. If you make the mistake of looking for the Holy Spirit in yourself alone your thoughts will frighten you because, by adopting the ego’s viewpoint, you are undertaking an ego-alien journey with the ego as guide. This is bound to produce fear.
Over and over throughout A Course in Miracles, we are told how essential it is to recognize our oneness. Separateness in any form is the ego, and anything we attempt from the ego’s viewpoint will produce fear in us. So, when I look for the Holy Spirit in myself alone, my thoughts will frighten me. Here is an example from my life.
The Problem with Bob
There is a man who has insinuated himself in my life, who I began to see as a potential problem. I am going to call him Bob. Bob is pushy and self-centered. I had this whole story about him in my mind, none of which actually happened, but I believed it would. My chief desire was to find a way to get rid of him without causing hard feelings, without making myself feel guilty, and without tarnishing my image as a nice ego.
Because I wanted the above things to happen, I created a web of deceit so complex that, for a while, I could see myself as an innocent victim and Bob as the victimizer. I kept going over the reasons I needed to solve this problem, which all centered on Bob’s guilt. I kept asking Holy Spirit to help me figure out what to do about this character, and I just wasn’t getting an answer.
Unable to Hear the Holy Spirit
From where I am now, the whole thing is so ridiculous that I stand amazed at my ability to deceive myself. But at that time, I thought he was the problem that needed to be solved, and I was getting impatient, waiting for the Holy Spirit to come up with a solution. Of course, the real problem was that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me, but I was hearing Him only faintly because I was looking for Him only in myself.
I was not interested in finding the Holy Spirit in Bob. I wanted Bob to be guilty and, thus, the problem to be outside me. It is the age-old ego strategy that I managed to disguise as something else, at least for a little while. I did begin to see what I was doing after a while because I kept asking for help, and my desire to see overcame my desire to be right and my desire to defend myself.
The Holy Spirit told me all along that the solution to my problem is to keep my mind focused on the Holy Spirit in Bob. I am to disregard the appearance of ego behavior and to remember who Bob really is. My intention to know only the truth will heal all problems that I imagine to be imminent because it will heal my mind from which all problems arise.
As it turns out, the Voice for God had not suddenly become silent in me after all. I had failed to hear It because I was listening for an answer that was just for me. When I lay aside my defenses and became willing to trust, I began to listen for the answer that was for both of us, and the Voice came in loud and clear.
5 III. The Guide to Salvation, P 5
5 Delay is of the ego, because time is its concept. Both time and delay are meaningless in eternity. I have said before that the Holy Spirit is God’s Answer to the ego. Everything of which the Holy Spirit reminds you is in direct opposition to the ego’s notions, because true and false perceptions are themselves opposed. The Holy Spirit has the task of undoing what the ego has made. He undoes it at the same level on which the ego operates, or the mind would be unable to understand the change.
He undoes it at the same level on which the ego operates, or the mind would be unable to understand the change. This is why it is so important for me to be vigilant for my thoughts. It is so that I can become fully aware of what needs to change in my mind. I see what is disturbing my peace, and I decide for peace. This is the Holy Spirit’s invitation to undo what I have done. Here is how it feels to me. I read in A Course in Miracles that I cannot be a victim of the world. So, I think that sounds good, and I am willing to let go of the belief in victimhood.
Looking for the Evidence
But what does that really mean to me? It is an idea, a concept, and it is easy to say I don’t want to believe in victimhood. But here in the illusion, I get to see if I actually want to let that belief go. Someone scams me, and I lose my savings. Do I respond as if I am a victim of this thief? Maybe I am angry. Maybe I feel like a fool and hate the one who seems responsible. If I lose my peace at all, it indicates I still believe I can be a victim. It would seem I am not ready to give that up after all.
Seeing this evidence of a desire to be a victim, I can question my choice. I can notice how it feels when I hold a grievance. I noticed that before the theft, I was at peace and happy. Then after the theft, I became angry and lost my peace. I then get to decide what is more important to me. Do I want to treasure my grievance and wallow in my anger? Do I want to be right? Or do I want to let go of what I no longer have and allow peace to return? I could not make an honest decision about victimhood without first experiencing victimhood, and that can only happen here.
Finally, I Understand
In paying attention to my emotional response, I can see the contrast and make an informed choice. Now the mind understands why I chose peace, and so the decision to let go of the belief in victimhood is real to me. Perhaps I will never choose victimhood again. Or maybe I will need to experience the contrast many times before I am certain victimhood is not worth claiming. But once I become certain, based on the evidence of what is worth more to me, I will truly be done with it. The mind will understand the change and so accept it.
6 III. The Guide to Salvation, P 6
6 I have repeatedly emphasized that one level of the mind is not understandable to another. So it is with the ego and the Holy Spirit; with time and eternity. Eternity is an idea of God, so the Holy Spirit understands it perfectly. Time is a belief of the ego, so the lower mind, which is the ego’s domain, accepts it without question. The only aspect of time that is eternal is now.
I cannot really understand eternity with the thinking mind because my mind is firmly established in time. I can understand that time is not what I think it is, and I have experienced it as flexible when I have asked for this. But eternity is just a word to me. Jesus tells us here that the only eternal aspect of time is now. Even that seems strange to me, but it is something I can use. I can make this a practice that invites the Holy Spirit to enlighten my mind. This practice will loosen the hold I have on time as reality.
Silent Stillness
The way I do this is to stop my thoughts every so often and remind myself that I am here “now.” I stay in that single instant of now for as long as I can, which admittedly is not too long. But in that now moment, I rest without thought of the future or past. I simply experience the moment as it is. This is ridiculously hard to do if I effort it if I try to stretch it. If I just let it happen and relax into it, the experience is very pleasant for however little time it lasts.
In that quiet, perfect instant, I have made a space in my mind for Holy Spirit to do His work. I hope that through this practice, I will become willing to allow the now moment to expand. Perhaps as I continue this practice, my understanding will deepen to the degree that is possible while I am in time. Or if not my understanding, then the experience of it will expand. The thinking mind is very resistant to this practice, perhaps because without a past or future, there is little thinking going on. And the ego is a thinking machine. It doesn’t care for silent stillness. When my identity was limited to the body-self, I didn’t like it either. Now, I can enjoy it for longer, and my pleasure in it helps me to understand I must not be the ego.
7 III. The Guide to Salvation, P7
7 The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between the interpretations of the ego and the knowledge of the spirit. His ability to deal with symbols enables Him to work with the ego’s beliefs in its own language. His ability to look beyond symbols into eternity enables Him to understand the laws of God, for which He speaks. He can therefore perform the function of reinterpreting what the ego makes, not by destruction but by understanding. Understanding is light, and light leads to knowledge. The Holy Spirit is in light because He is in you who are light, but you yourself do not know this. It is therefore the task of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret you on behalf of God.
I’m Being Reinterpreted!
I feel such a sense of relief when I read that the Holy Spirit will reinterpret me on behalf of God. I have peeked behind the veil just a little, but enough to know that this side of the veil is not my reality, and I want to know my reality. So, I want to walk through the veil and stay there. I also know that on this side of the veil, mind is cloudy and confused, so confused that it is convinced that this side of the veil is reality. Well, not so much anymore. I have lost the conviction that ego land is home, but still, it is so easy to fall back into confusion.
Yesterday I was so confused that for a while, I believed that being right was my salvation. I caught it right away, but then I would do it again. It was like I was a puppet, my strings being manipulated by an evil puppeteer. But the truth is, I control the puppeteer. I decide what I believe, and what I believe determines my experience. At least I did see what was happening and did decide to stop eventually.
Every Error Is an Opportunity
Today, I regret that yesterday I missed the opportunity to be a teacher of God in a disturbing situation. But I also see that it was ego trying to reassert itself, and more than ever, I truly want my perceptions to be corrected and my mind healed of ego desires. And while I do regret the lost opportunity from yesterday, I am still joyful today because I realize that my error changes nothing. I am innocent. I am also joyful.
This is so different than it would have been just a short time ago. In the past, I would have been depressed about the whole thing and deeply discouraged. I would have listened to the ego and believed its judgment that I am a hopeless cause. Now I just chuckle at the idea. I really am being reinterpreted by the Holy Spirit on behalf of God. Thank you, God. I love you, God.
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