ACIM Principles of Miracles 40 The miracle acknowledges everyone as your brother and mine. Principle 41 Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles.
Miracles Principle 40, 41
40 The miracle acknowledges everyone as your brother and mine. It is a way of perceiving the universal mark of God.
Ultimately, when the truth is accepted as true by everyone, there is no need for miracles. We will know ourselves as One with God. For now, while most of us are still confused about our identity, we need help. The miracle, by its nature, acknowledges our connection. The miracle calls for the joining of minds.
On a lovely fall day in 2012, I spent the day with my family. I was officiating the wedding ceremony for my daughter, Sheryl, and her fiancé Barry. It took place at my home, and for hours things were pretty hectic. The entire wedding had one week’s planning, but in spite of the short time involved, came together very well. However, there were moments that could have been very upsetting but were accepted with fair ease and much grace.
Sheryl wasn’t the first nervous bride, and I could have easily been drawn into that energy. Certainly, in the past, I would have. She forgot to buy hose and someone needed to do that. The cake didn’t come out as ordered, and she thought that the perfect cake was very important. She felt like she had suddenly, overnight, become too fat for the dress that was a perfect fit just a couple of days before. She decided to iron her son’s shirt and smashed her finger, opening the ironing board.
Giving My Mind to the Holy Spirit
I watched myself deal with each emergency with calm. Wow! Even a year before, I would have been in the “let mom fix this” mode. And I would have been so overwhelmed and nervous myself that I would have made things worse. I would have escalated the tension in the house if I had done that. I am so grateful for the miracle of a healed mind. Because of this healing, I chose to give my mind to the Holy Spirit. The miracle of peace was His gift.
If the ego had been in charge, Sheryl and I would have fed the tension and anxiety. With Holy Spirit in charge, we joined in one purpose, the extension of love during this special occasion. I doubt my daughter had any idea of the miracle that was occurring, but that didn’t matter. I was in love with her, with Barry, with the little girls running around underfoot, getting into everything. My love extended to the dozens of folks doing their part to bring this off for Sheryl. Making this day as lovely for her as possible.
Love Is the Purpose
Love was the purpose, and this was the point of joining for Sheryl and me. This was our shared purpose. This was where we met, Jesus, Sheryl, and me. In this joining, the miracle took place. When the wedding was over, Sheryl said it had been perfect. All the worry and stress she had felt before was forgotten. The injured finger, the unruly kids, the concern about how she looked, and the cake that didn’t meet her expectations.
What was left was an overwhelming sense of love. She was basking in it, receiving and giving in equal measure. This is the memory she will take with her from her wedding day. Love is the purpose; it is always the purpose, no matter what seems to be happening. In joining in that common purpose, we experience the miracle, and we see on each other the mark of God.
Principle 41
41 Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles. They thus correct, or atone for, the faulty perception of lack.
In every case, the miracle helps to reestablish wholeness in my mind. The belief in separation has had a grip on my mind for eons of time. I needed help in letting the idea go. The Holy Spirit is that help, and the miracle is the mechanism for doing this. When I ask for healing, and it is done, but not by me, I know that I am not alone. I am not separate but a part of a whole.
It is the belief in separation that accounts for every thought of lack. I used to think there were so many things I couldn’t do. I thought it was because I lacked the willpower to make them happen. To be a better person, to resist that second piece of cake, and to consistently choose God, are examples. I thought the weight of the world was on me, and I could never live up to that responsibility.
A Course in Miracles taught me that I never bear anything alone. My will is the Will of God and, therefore, undeniable. This certainty occurred as I practiced turning my mind to the Holy Spirit. I gave my permission, and the Holy Spirit within me healed me. I began to understand the reason my will seemed so weak. It was that I was trying to work through a separated and small will. All along, I had one Will that I share with God. The miracle has awakened my memory of that will. In it is all power because it is not separate.
There Is No Lack
From within God, my true home and my reality, there is no lack. I learn this is true as I do my practice. I try it out on ideas one at a time. For instance, I used to worry all the time about money. But I began to toy with the idea that my God is an abundant God and that He shares. It was a new idea for me and eventually led to my current understanding. Now I know I could not be separate from reality. It was only a belief in lack that generated the feeling I could have needs at all.
I used to long for love but only felt loved at times. I yearned for a love I could depend on and that would not come and go. But I learned through my practice that l felt lack of love because I didn’t remember who I am. I had forgotten that I am wholly love and, therefore, wholly loved. I thought I was separate and I had to deserve love from other separate beings. But then, I often judged myself unworthy of their love. And so was afraid to even think about God’s love except in the most general way. If I didn’t deserve the love of the one standing next to me, how could I imagine I deserved God’s love?
Being the Love I Wanted
I learned to be the love I wanted. I learned that in joining with the Holy Spirit, my mind could be miraculously healed of the thoughts of unworthiness. And I learned that in joining with the Holy Spirit, my mind was miraculously healed. It was healed of the idea that there was some separate person to love. Some separate God who could withhold love. I understand that, as I am one with the Holy Spirit, I am one with everyone else and with God. And this has been proven to me over and over through the miracle of healing.
What could I lack if I am one with everything? How could I lack if I am part of all there is? I protect my new understanding, my new experience of oneness, with my vigilance. If I see someone “else” as sick or wanting in any way, I have embraced the belief in sickness. Sickness is the belief in lack. My mind begins to slip back into the old belief in separation. But through my vigilance, I notice the thought and the discomfort it brings. I then ask the Holy Spirit to undo what I have done. I ask for the miracle, and the miracle corrects my perception. Thus, I remember I am part of a whole, and in that whole, there can be no lack.
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