ACIM Chapter 8. VIII. The Body as Means or End, P 8, 9

ACIM Chapter 8. VIII. The Body as Means or End, P 8, 9

VIII. The Body as Means or End, P8

8 You might well ask how the voice of something that does not exist can be so insistent. Have you thought about the distorting power of something you want, even if it is not real? There are many instances of how what you want distorts perception. No one can doubt the ego’s skill in building up false cases. Nor can anyone doubt your willingness to listen until you choose not to accept anything except truth. When you lay the ego aside, it will be gone. The Holy Spirit’s Voice is as loud as your willingness to listen. It cannot be louder without violating your freedom of choice, which the Holy Spirit seeks to restore, never to undermine.

I bet lots of people have had that question. If the ego is not real, why do I hear it so persistently? Why is it so loud? Why does it never seem to go away? The answer is that if I hear the ego, it is because I want to hear the ego. When I no longer want the ego, it will be gone. It is so simple. I am God’s Son, and what I desire exists for me, even if it is something that is not real.

When I first accepted this must be true, I felt depressed instead of happy. The reason I felt that way is that I felt like I was fighting myself and losing. I couldn’t seem to want to put the ego aside. I would think I wanted to be free, but then I would go on thinking ego thoughts and believing them. It was very discouraging, but I believed what the Course said, and so I kept at it.

A Course in Miracles helped me to understand.

The reason this is possible and the reason it is simple is that we have the Voice for God in our minds. It is not as loud or insistent as the ego because it is always respectful of our freedom of choice. But it continues to gently remind us of our true selves. I have slowly learned to tune out the ego and listen, most often, to the Holy Spirit.

What started out as a hope then became something more than hope is now a certainty in my mind. I am God’s Son, and I will accept this identity fully, and I am doing it now. Every time I notice the desire to be angry, to blame, to experience guilt, or to think I am in pain, I realize this is not true. Nor is it what I want. I am choosing to lay the ego aside. I ask for the Atonement, and I ask the Holy Spirit to decide for me, and the ego fades away to reveal something of my Self. As I do this, I begin to remember that God is my desire.

VIII. The Body as Means or End, P 9

9 The Holy Spirit teaches you to use your body only to reach your brothers, so He can teach His message through you. This will heal them and therefore heal you. Everything used in accordance with its function as the Holy Spirit sees it cannot be sick. Everything used otherwise is. Do not allow the body to be a mirror of a split mind. Do not let it be an image of your own perception of littleness. Do not let it reflect your decision to attack. Health is seen as the natural state of everything when interpretation is left to the Holy Spirit, Who perceives no attack on anything. Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly. Health is the beginning of the proper perspective on life under the guidance of the one Teacher Who knows what life is, being the Voice for Life Itself.

Jesus finishes this section by stating very clearly what the body is for.

He also tells us what happens to the body when we use it lovelessly. The body is for reaching our brothers so that the Holy Spirit can teach his message through us. This message is always some form of love. For instance, I can use this body to express kindness and understanding when I am with my family. I can use it to be compassionate, to bring humor to our joinings, and to a general sense of well-being to us all. I can overlook their errors and dwell on their kindnesses. In other words, I can use the body to teach only love.

Wherever the Holy Spirit has me take this body, I can surrender it to His use. I can use it to convey His message of love when I am with anyone or even thinking of anyone. It is the same if I am shopping at Walmart or visiting the recreation center. Always, I am sending a message, either of love or fear. In the mornings I receive love as I sit here reading the Course and asking for clarity. I give love as I share what I get. The words are helpful to the degree I set aside my ego and allow the Holy Spirit to speak. But the intent to be a channel for love is the function I am giving the body now, and that is not lost even if my words are not perfect.

If I use the body for that exalted purpose, it is perfectly healthy.

When used lovelessly, it is sick. My goal is to choose love every time. Jesus asks us not to allow the body to mirror a split mind. Right now, my body does mirror the split in my mind. I teach love more than I teach fear, so the body reflects love in the form of health more than it does sickness. However, I still use my body for attack, so it is not perfectly healthy.

Since I have become aware of the connection, I have changed my mind. And since I have set the intention to use the body for love only, I am very aware of the split. I am also very aware of the projection of my beliefs onto the body. Here is an example. One day, I felt very energetic and peaceful until I had been at work for a while. We had a meeting, and I began to feel anxious about some of the things being said. There was no actual problem, but I started interpreting my brothers through the ego mind and felt attacked.

It was not something “big,” so I was able to push it away.

This is not the same as letting it be healed. So, the anxiety slowly built. What I noticed is that I became enervated.  I felt so tired and lethargic and wondered what was wrong with me. I had plenty of sleep, and there was no reason to be tired. That thought stopped me because I know that how the body feels does not come from the body but from the mind. Accordingly, I started watching my thoughts and saw that I was using the body for attack and defense. It was wearing me out because it was in conflict with my function of allowing the Holy Spirit to use it for His message of love.

Having noticed this, I saw it happen a couple of other times during the day. I would get nervous about my trip, worrying I might not have enough money or trying to fit more into the day in preparation for being gone for several days, and I would start to feel drained again. Ha! I think I’m on to something here. After watching and allowing correction during the day, by that evening I felt terrific. I felt joyful and energetic and I got everything done that I wanted to do. I had some lovely thoughts to remind me of my purpose. My body reflected this change of mind as I allowed love to flow through it.

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