ACIM Principles of Miracles 38 The Holy Spirit is the mechanism of miracles. Principle 39 The miracle dissolves error because the Holy Spirit identifies error as false or unreal.
ACIM Principles of Miracles 38, 39
Principles of Miracles 38, 39
38 The Holy Spirit is the mechanism of miracles. He recognizes both God’s creations and your illusions. He separates the true from the false by His ability to perceive totally rather than selectively.
My understanding of the Holy Spirit has shifted and changed over time, as has my understanding of my true Self. Of course, my understanding or my misunderstanding, as the case may be, does not change reality, so in the end, it does not really matter. It seems helpful for me to know that the Holy Spirit is the Voice for God that was placed in my mind to help me wake up.
The Holy Spirit has a function that is especially useful to me in my sleeping state. He both perceives and knows. He understands how I think, and yet he knows the truth. The Holy Spirit is the perfect answer to my quandary. When my mind gets tangled in ego thoughts, I call on the Holy Spirit to correct my perception. He brings my thinking into alignment with truth, which is the miracle.
I Need Help
I cannot do this myself because I work from within a closed system. All I can do is trade one perception for another. Within the dream, there is not knowledge, so I have nothing to which I can compare what I think and thus judge how closely my thoughts come to the truth. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, works within the system but also has the advantage of knowing what is outside the system. He can do for me what I am temporarily unable to do for myself.
What the Holy Spirit is and how it all works is of little concern to me. I know that I can ask the Holy Spirit for correction, help, guidance, or for comfort, and I am answered. There is a specific process I use that I know from my experience is effective in healing my mind. I know what to do and that it works. I have seen that I don’t heal myself, and I have seen that I must desire to heal before it can take place. Through my willingness and the action of the Holy Spirit, I have experienced the miracle of a healed mind and the miraculous effects of a healed mind. What more do I need to know?
Miracles Principles 39
39 The miracle dissolves error because the Holy Spirit identifies error as false or unreal. This is the same as saying that by perceiving light, darkness automatically disappears.
Something came up for healing yesterday, and I reminded myself that it is not real. I understand now what this means. When the Holy Spirit heals my mind, He heals it of the untrue belief that I have been holding onto. It is like I hold up a belief, and He tells me, “No, that one is not real.” Or, “Yes, that belief is in alignment with Creation, and so it is real.”
Here is something I wrote about. It happened some ago when I was just learning these things.
I brought the Holy Spirit a particular belief, and He declared it unreal. But I didn’t want to let it go. And yet, I did want peace. Perhaps that sounds familiar to you. I told Him that I know He is right, but it feels real to me. I feel anxious and sad when I think of the situation that represents the untrue belief, and those feelings are so strong and so upsetting. How could they not be real? I could feel fear at the idea of releasing this belief and, at the same time, fear that maybe this time, I couldn’t release it.
The Ego’s Game
The ego mind wanted to examine this and discover the source of the belief and make sense of the fear. This is the way the ego keeps the illusion going. It looks at the belief from every angle and makes up stories to explain the feelings and to fortify the belief, or it trades this belief for another false belief.
I’ve played this game for too long to be fooled by it. I left it in Holy Spirit’s hands, knowing that He would find a way to help me see differently. Just before I woke up this morning, I had a dream which I remember only a little. I was saying to someone, “You know who you are but don’t accept it. You just have to accept it.”
Then, I told him that I didn’t mean him specifically. “I know who I am, but I must accept it.” I thought I was “I” because it is my habit always to use “I” statements rather than suggesting I know what someone else knows or doesn’t know. Or what someone else should or shouldn’t do. But on waking, I realized that the message was really about me this time.
Ready for Healing
I lay there for a while, talking to the Holy Spirit. I asked Him again to heal my mind, and this time I truly meant it. So, I set aside all ego ideas and every meaning I had given the belief. I remembered that I want to be an empty shell, empty of all ego beliefs of separation. Now, I want to be filled with truth. I renewed my commitment to stepping aside and be led, to be lived, by Him. I asked the Holy Spirit to teach me who I am.
When I tried to understand my fear and tried to reason it away, I just became more embroiled in it. When I asked the Holy Spirit to look with me, He declared it unreal, and it disappeared. It vanished. Truly, it was like turning the light on in a darkened room. Where did the darkness go?
Ready for the Light
The first time I asked Him to enlighten my mind, I wasn’t quite ready for the light. It was as if I had asked for a light and then put my hand on His and said, “Don’t turn it on yet; I want to relish this fear for a while yet.” I want to shiver in the dark, pretending that I am in danger. I want to wallow in self-pity for poor little me who suffers so. Oh, I want to pretend for a while longer that I don’t know what to do.
I am so very good at self-deception. I really convinced myself that I was all those things. Only not quite. I can no longer believe myself! I knew I was doing this even while I felt the anxiety. Yes, I knew it! I knew that I was going to let it go and part of me suffered until I did, and part of me just waited patiently for the end of it. What a strange place I find myself, dreaming I am dreaming, I suppose. It makes me laugh thinking about it.
Insights from Pathways of Light on these principles. Click here.