ACIM Chapter 7.VII. The Totality of the Kingdom, P 8, 9

ACIM Chapter 7.VII. The Totality of the Kingdom, P 8, 9. Attack could never promote attack unless you perceived it as a means of depriving you of something you want.

VII. The Totality of the Kingdom, P 8

⁸ Attack could never promote attack unless you perceived it as a means of depriving you of something you want. Yet you cannot lose anything unless you do not value it, and therefore do not want it. This makes you feel deprived of it, and by projecting your own rejection you then believe that others are taking it from you. You must be fearful if you believe that your brother is attacking you to tear the Kingdom of Heaven from you. This is the ultimate basis for all the ego’s projection.

I want to follow this logic with something that happened while I was still working. Seeing something in a concrete way helps me to understand the general principle, which of course, is the only value the world has for me. It shows me what my beliefs look like so I can decide if I want to believe them anymore. In time, this is the way the mind works, even though our minds are actually abstract, as is God.

This is from my past journal.

Looking at the situation with the co-worker I spoke of last week, he seemed to be attacking me when he failed to do the work correctly and resisted my direction. The attack took the form of threatening my income, and this brought up fear in me. I would not have phrased it like this, but I guess I have seen my income as my salvation.

If Heaven is my goal and I think that my income is my salvation, then I am confused about what I need to be safe and am confusing financial stability with Heaven. So, when this man threatened my finances, he seemed to be taking Heaven from me. This would certainly explain why I felt justified in defending myself by attacking him in return.

Once I understood the reasoning behind the belief I was being attacked and the reason I wanted to defend myself, I could understand his motivations, too. I think he must see being right as his salvation, and so, of course, he would resent my “help” when offered. It must look to him like I am snatching away what matters deeply to him, that I am robbing him of his happiness by telling him he is wrong and needs my help.

I am very grateful that I had A Course in Miracles to help me recognize my error and the Holy Spirit to heal my mind.

Friday, when I got to work, I was very calm about the whole thing. I had let my mind be healed of the idea that he was my enemy. So, when my supervisor expressed her frustration about the situation, I was able to step back from it.

I noticed the ego wanting to join her anger, but by this time, I knew he was not my enemy. I further realize from reading this paragraph that no matter what this man does, he cannot deprive me of anything unless I decide I don’t want it. This means I cannot lose my money or my job because of anything except my own decisions. And nothing can tear God from me, certainly not my brother.

Since I was calm and settled about the whole thing when I got to work, I didn’t say anything to him about it, but he came to me, explained his error, and took full responsibility for it. He also told me he researched the information to understand where he went wrong. I loved that I didn’t have even the slightest desire to be sure he knew I told him so. ~smile~

VII. The Totality of the Kingdom, P 9

⁹ Being the part of your mind that does not believe it is responsible for itself, and being without allegiance to God, the ego is incapable of trust. Projecting its insane belief that you have been treacherous to your Creator, it believes that your brothers, who are as incapable of this as you are, are out to take God from you. Whenever a brother attacks another, that is what he believes. Projection always sees your wishes in others. If you choose to separate yourself from God, that is what you will think others are doing to you.

The ego does not think it is responsible for itself, so it always looks for someone to blame. I am vigilant for blame thoughts, knowing that this is ego. When I notice them, I ask that my mind be healed of the idea that someone else is responsible for my life. This is the way the ego is undone. I choose against it.

The ego has no allegiance to God, and so is incapable of trust. I notice when I feel uncertain and doubtful, and I know I must be giving the ego my allegiance. So, I made a different choice, the only one that made sense. I choose to place my allegiance in God and to trust Him. This is another way that I undo the ego.

The ego is the idea that I have been treacherous to God.

This is insane, but believing in my treachery has effects that keep me embroiled in guilt and fear. I cannot be treacherous to God because that would imply God could be hurt and that God could be offended. God has no ego to be offended, and my choices cannot hurt or diminish God. When I feel guilt or fear, I know I am identifying with ego, and I choose again. This is the way to undo the ego.

When I am identified with ego, I believe in treachery, so I believe my brothers are as capable of treachery as I am. This makes them seem dangerous to me. Because I project blame on them, I suspect they are doing the same thing to me. It is like they are pointing their finger at me and saying, “Look, God, I am innocent. She is the guilty one.” This is how I see them as taking God from me.

The ego says I must defend myself by finding more fault in them than they find in me. But the solution is to notice what is happening when I project onto others and let the belief in guilt be undone in my own mind. When I do that, I will see the belief in guilt being expressed by my brother. Instead of feeling threatened, I will simply see a call for love and ask that this belief be healed in our minds. This is the way the ego is undone in our minds.