HOW SHOULD THE TEACHER OF GOD SPEND HIS DAY?
page 42, paragraph 9
HOW SHOULD THE TEACHER OF GOD SPEND HIS DAY?
HOW SHOULD THE TEACHER OF GOD SPEND HIS DAY?
9. The avoidance of magic is the avoidance of temptation. ²For all temptation is nothing more than the attempt to substitute another will for God’s. ³These attempts may indeed seem frightening, but they are merely pathetic. ⁴They can have no effects; neither good nor bad, neither rewarding nor demanding sacrifice, healing nor destructive, quieting nor fearful. ⁵When all magic is recognized as merely nothing, the teacher of God has reached the most advanced state. ⁶All intermediate lessons will but lead to this, and bring this goal nearer to recognition. ⁷For magic of any kind, in all its forms, simply does nothing. ⁸Its powerlessness is the reason it can be so easily escaped. ⁹What has no effects can hardly terrify. (ACIM, M-16.9:1-9)
Beliefs
I was reading about Voodoo recently. The book says that sometimes a Voodoo priest puts a curse on someone with the intention of causing death. I thought how silly this was; however, when I came to understand that when the intended victim believes in the magic that person will die. On further consideration I realize that this is not all that different from the magic thinking we all do when substituting our will for God’s Will. It’s just as foolish and ineffective, but because we believe in it, the effects are real to us, even unto death.
Magic Thinking
Magic thinking is anything that is a separate will from God. I do this when I try to fix what I perceive as wrong or out balance by changing the form of things. Wishing for a lottery win to fix dissatisfaction with life for example. Believing unhappiness is caused by loneliness I try to fix it by finding a mate. That is a mate who will give me whatever it is I think is missing in my life. Oh, here’s a good one. Making someone else seem to be responsible for my guilty feelings and believing that this makes me innocent.
Some more: Any thinking that promotes the belief that pain, suffering, and death are my deserved fates and unavoidable. Any belief that this can be changed through the use of medicine, counseling, begging, and bargaining with God. Or by living a “good” life in the hopes of deserving something better.
And these: Making plans and making decisions on my own. Trying to get people to like me by pleasing them. Acting humble and playing small so as not to tempt the fates. Giving meaning to everything according to whatever I believe will protect me in the moment. Defending and attacking to keep myself safe. All these things are magical thinking.
Insane Thinking
When I was reading about the people who were fearful of the voodoo priest I wanted to say, “Wake up! This belief is not real. If you would just stop believing in her power, she couldn’t have any effect on you.”
Well, I can say the same thing about myself. If I stop believing in the crazy rules that I made up to take the place of complete freedom then I would be free. I would no longer imagine I am trapped in a body. Suffering, sickness, and death would have no control. All it takes to escape from this sorry state of affairs is to accept that I did it to myself. I did it in an effort to substitute my will for God’s Will, and that nothing actually happened. It seems to have happened because I am determined to believe in it. In reality nothing happened, and I am safe.