ACIM Atonement and Miracles paragraph 5. Error cannot really threaten truth, which can always withstand it. Only the error is actually vulnerable.

ACIM Atonement and Miracles P 5

III. Atonement and Miracles, 5

  ⁵ Error cannot really threaten truth, which can always withstand it. Only the error is actually vulnerable. You are free to establish your kingdom where you see fit, but the right choice is inevitable if you remember this:

Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
Your reality is only spirit.
Therefore you are in a state of grace forever.

Atonement undoes all errors in this respect, and thus uproots the source of fear. Whenever you experience God’s reassurances as threat, it is always because you are defending misplaced or misdirected loyalty. When you project this to others you imprison them, but only to the extent to which you reinforce errors they have already made. This makes them vulnerable to the distortions of others, since their own perception of themselves is distorted. The miracle worker can only bless them, and this undoes their distortions and frees them from prison.  

My mistaken beliefs cannot change anything. They cannot threaten truth in any way. The truth is true forever, and nothing can alter it. Whew!! Since I can rest easy knowing that my mistaken thoughts are doing no real harm, I can afford to look at them without fear or guilt. I can ask the Holy Spirit to look with me and to correct my thinking where I have strayed from truth.

It Is Not a Sin

It is perfectly ok and perfectly safe to build my own little kingdom outside of Truth, because it is only a sand castle, easily washed away by the desire to choose again. In the meantime, I can play in it for as long as I can tolerate the inevitable pain it brings with it. When I am tired of suffering, I can remember the truth, that I am Spirit and in a state of grace forever. This remembrance undoes all I think I have done and brings me peace. The decision not to forget this brings me out of the illusion and to God.

Here are ways I practice making the right choice.

I used to get migraines on a regular basis. When this happened, my first thought would be to wonder what triggered it. There is an interesting list I could go through, checking off possibilities and crossing out the ones that could not apply. I could start a regimen of medication after I decided if it’s going to get bad enough for that and after I decide if it is worth the side effects. This was one place I established my kingdom, and it would be ok if that is what I wanted. I did that many times before I finally decided to make another choice.

Denial of God

Eventually, I decided that my list of triggers was nonsense. The only thing that triggered these migraines was the denial of God. Then my prayer changed from heal this pain to heal my mind. I noticed when I did this that the pain began to recede. I also noticed that it would start coming back, and I would have to decide again where I want my kingdom. That was because I was not entirely through with migraines despite the pain. I still saw value in them.

When I realized that, I asked the Holy Spirit to show me how I was giving value to migraines, and I became aware of why I did this. In the story, it gave me ready excuses to get out of obligations that were burdensome. So, I learned just to say no when I meant no. I also became aware of how I used it to get sympathy and a show of love and affection.

I decided to learn to love myself and to extend that love so that I would know it was mine. It took a while, but my decision not to use pain for that purpose was the step I needed to let the migraines go. I began to realize that migraines were a choice, and that was a shock. They were a choice I made to establish my kingdom where I wanted it in opposition to God.

Other Forms

Not that the migraines are special. There are many other forms of the same thing that I used to represent the desire to establish a little kingdom outside Truth and to be the ruler of this kingdom. I got to decide when I have a migraine and how to deal with it. I got to decide how the denial of God shows up in form.

Maybe it will be a problem with one of my children. For many years this was always good for some drama. Or concern about money. When I bought a house, I noticed that I entertained my mind for hours during the day, making plans and creating problems. Then I could decide for myself what I should do about these problems that have not even shown up in form. Yet.

The ways in which I got to choose between ruling this odd kingdom of mine or being at peace seem to be absolutely endless. However, something happened to bring this to an end. One thing that happened is that I began to realize that all my problems are the same problem. A migraine is no different than a shortage of money or a disagreement with a friend. The problems look different in form, but they are all sourced by the same belief, that I have separated from God and that I am guilty of what I have done.

Separation Is Not Possible

As it turns out, I have not separated from God in any way except in my imagination. It is not possible to separate from God. It is not possible to change Reality in any way. Truth is true and eternal. So, I am not guilty. I am forever innocent because that is how I was created, and what God creates cannot be altered. I am saved from this self-inflicted condemnation I have been living by the simple truth that:

Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
My reality is only spirit.
Therefore I am in a state of grace forever.

The migraines are a thing of the past because I no longer choose them. I seldom ever have these periodic dramas with my children or anyone else. While guilt is not completely gone from my mind, it seldom shows up, and when it does, I readily forgive it and let it go. Once I realized that I was choosing these things and that it was all being driven by fear and guilt, I learned to choose differently.

I still get sick sometimes, still experience fear occasionally, and guilt can also pop up. At those times, I have to remind myself that I can make another choice. I can choose differently because I am spirit and in a state of grace forever. Guilt cannot touch me as long as I remember what I am.

Resisting the Truth

Jesus talks to us about experiencing God’s reassurances as a threat, and for a moment, I was confused. At first, I could not see how I do this. But now I see that when I resist the truth, it is because I see the reassurance of it as something to be avoided. It is obvious to me that I still refuse to believe in my complete innocence.

I don’t often think of myself as guilty, but sometimes I fall for that illusion. How wonderful to know that I am not stained by my errors and that I remain as God created me. And yet, for many years, I felt stained by that guilt despite the reassurances. For many years some things I had done in my life would still bring a flush of shame when I thought of them.

If I was innocent and nothing I did in the illusion had meaning, why should I feel ashamed? And why would I not be thrilled to be wiped clean of that shame? Jesus said it was because I was defending misplaced or misdirected loyalty. So I asked him to clarify this for me. His answer is one of the reasons I was able to accept healing, and it still helps me if I get pulled into another story. Here is what he told me.

His Message

Jesus: Dear one, there are only two places for you to place your loyalty; God or ego. If you are not siding with God, you are siding with your alternative to God, the ego. Let us look at one of your favorite ways to feel guilty. You failed (in your eyes) to be supportive of your mother when she had Alzheimer’s. God said that you are not guilty of anything you did or failed to do.

You find it hard to support that truth. In an effort to appear to accept God’s decision, you try to think of excuses for your behavior. You try to see your behavior in a different light. You try to find reasons that your behavior was acceptable. But these are all defenses against God. If you fully accepted God’s word, you would not need any of these reasons to be innocent. That you need reasons to see your innocence proves that you feel that you are guilty.

Proof of What Is Not True

When you didn’t know how to help your mom and when you didn’t know how best to love her, and when you failed to visit and made excuses to stay away, you felt very guilty. God declared you innocent, but you constantly defended against your innocence. You clung to your guilt, remaining loyal to it to the bitter end. With each gentle reminder of your innocence, you stacked up your proof that you were a bad daughter and guilty, guilty, guilty.

What you could not let yourself see is that you were, all this time, defending yourself against God. Your loyalty was misplaced as you defended your right to be guilty and live in fear and shame. This circular thinking is typical of the ego. The ego said you were guilty of your behavior and should feel bad about it. God said you were innocent, but the ego said you could not accept that declaration because you were too guilty and didn’t deserve forgiveness.

The only way out of this cycle is to simply step out. Step out on faith. Step out because you do have another choice, and you can simply make that choice. You don’t have to do anything to deserve it; you don’t have to do anything to atone for your sin. I am the Atonement, and it is done. Yes, my dear one, it is really that simple. Lay down your defenses. Ignore everything except the truth. 

A Bitter Life

What is the alternative? You continue living that bitter life you made in place of the glory that is yours and will always be yours. You will become so miserable and afraid of your thoughts that you will try to sling them away from you and put them on others as if there were someplace that is outside your own mind where they could be instead. This projection will add to your belief you are guilty, and the cycle grows and becomes more intense as you believe you have caused more harm.

You cannot convince anyone they are guilty unless they already hold that belief in their mind, but most of your brothers and sisters do believe in their guilt. Your continued belief adds to the certainty that all of you are guilty, and you move more deeply into the illusion. You still are not guilty, though. More illusion is just more illusion. The illusion is meaningless. It is nothing, and adding nothing to nothing is still nothing. You cannot be guilty of doing nothing.  You can, however, suffer from the belief that you have actually done something.

Another cycle you are caught in is the belief that you must first correct your errors and become a better person, if you will. Then you can come to God for help because then you will deserve help and be worthy of it. People do this in a number of ways. They become very generous and helpful to their brothers, even to the point of self-sacrifice. Another way they do this is to dive into spiritual study, sometimes to the exclusion of all else, not from love of the work but from fear that less will condemn them or from the belief that sacrifice will redeem them.

Punishment

Another way these confused children of God look for salvation is by punishing themselves. They punish themselves through physical or mental pain, loss of every conceivable kind, or the denial of anything that brings joy or peace.  They punish themselves in a misguided effort to purify and become worthy. And all the while, unconscious guilt increases because they think they have usurped God’s right to punish them.

There is nothing you or anyone need do to prepare yourselves for God. You are perfect right now. You are untouched by your perceived wrongs and remain as God created you. Guilt is not something to be atoned for or overcome. My dear friend, it is so very simple. Take my hand, and together we will turn our back on guilt. It cannot stop us. Guilt cannot hold you prisoner; only you can do that. Give me your loyalty. I will use it to save your brothers and sisters from their confusion. I will use you. This is what is needed. Accept the miracle I offer you. That is all that is left to do.

One More Thing

One more thing Jesus mentions in this paragraph is that we imprison others with our projections onto them. But this only happens if they already believe these projections. I also know that he tells us later that we should not set our brother back on his path, so I try not to project onto anyone. He also tells us that we can be miracle workers if we teach everyone that they are innocent.

I was briefly annoyed with my son for being so easily offended. But then I apologized to him for the upset, admitting that I was interfering in what was clearly only his business. And maybe he was being overly sensitive, and maybe not. Either way, I have no intention of teaching him guilt. He is innocent, as am I because we were created innocent, and that is what I want him to know about himself.

Regina Dawn Akers has an excellent teaching on Letting Go of the I Am Bad Belief. To hear this message, CLICK HERE.

Atonement and Miracles ¹ I am in charge of the process of Atonement, which I undertook to begin. ² “Heaven and earth shall pass away” means that they will not continue to exist as separate states.

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¹ I am in charge of the process of Atonement, which I undertook to begin. When you offer a miracle to any of my brothers, you do it to yourself and me. The reason you come before me is that I do not need miracles for my own Atonement, but I stand at the end in case you fail temporarily. My part in the Atonement is the cancelling out of all errors that you could not otherwise correct. When you have been restored to the recognition of your original state, you naturally become part of the Atonement yourself. As you share my unwillingness to accept error in yourself and others, you must join the great crusade to correct it; listen to my voice, learn to undo error and act to correct it. The power to work miracles belongs to you. I will provide the opportunities to do them, but you must be ready and willing. Doing them will bring conviction in the ability, because conviction comes through accomplishment. The ability is the potential, the achievement is its expression, and the Atonement, which is the natural profession of the children of God, is the purpose.  

I read through this once, and I felt the now familiar, almost overwhelming sense of gratitude toward Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for awakening, for beginning the process of Atonement, and for canceling out all the errors I can’t correct myself. Thank you for providing opportunities for me to work miracles and for directing me to those miracles. I am grateful to you for having my back in those times when I slip back into the old way of thinking. And for the times when I feel unworthy and those times when I am doubtful and uncertain.

Gratitude for Jesus

The second time I read this, I had the feeling that Jesus and the Holy Spirit have blended into one, as I suppose we all will do as we are ready. The Holy Spirit has always been clearly defined in my mind as the Voice for God, and Jesus was defined as the author of the Course, the one of us who awakened and then stuck around to help us all awaken. He feels more like a person to me, while the Holy Spirit feels more like a mechanism.JSpirit

As it turns out, Jesus is both my brother who was a man. But now he is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

I am the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and when you see me it will be because you have invited Him. (ACIM, T-12.VII.6:1)

 He is the Holy Spirit’s manifestation, looking always on the real world, and calling forth its witnesses and drawing them to you. (ACIM, T-13.V.9:5)

Jesus is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Whom he called down upon the earth after he ascended into Heaven, or became completely identified with the Christ, the Son of God as He created Him. (ACIM, C-6.1:1)

Looking up manifestation, I found this. “an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something, especially a theory or an abstract idea.” Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is hard to understand. We can think of Him as an abstract idea, and Jesus now embodying It. So, my initial feelings about Jesus and the Holy Spirit make sense. And it doesn’t matter, really, how I experience Jesus/Holy Spirit, only that I do.

My Responsibilities

The third time I read through this paragraph, I was very aware of my responsibilities. I am to prepare my mind for working miracles so that when Jesus directs an opportunity to do so, I will be ready. Remember, in Principle 7, he said this. Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first. (ACIM, T-1.I.7:1)

As you share my unwillingness to accept error in yourself and others, you must join the great crusade to correct it; listen to my voice, learn to undo error and act to correct it.

This is what I do. First, I become unwilling to accept error in myself or others. I stay aware of my thoughts about myself and the thoughts I have about others. If those thoughts are in error, I am determined to forgive them and release them. I will not simply accept them as true. They are just beliefs, that is, perceptions that I have grown accustomed to. That does not make them true.

Joining the Great Crusade

So, I join the great crusade to correct the errors. I listen to Jesus as he teaches me how to undo the error. In Lesson 23, he says this. ²This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. ³The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. ⁴The final one does not. (ACIM, W-23.5:2-4) So I am taught that all I need to do is to notice the cause of my upset, the untrue thought in my mind. Then I let it go. That is the action I take.

I am vigilant, consistent, and persistent. When I am strongly distracted from the truth, as I was my son was suffering, I just keep at it. I feel the uncertainty and doubt and continue bringing it to Holy Spirit. I feel discouraged and fearful and continue bringing it to Holy Spirit. If I sit and cry and shake all over, still, I bring it to the Holy Spirit. I let it go all at once or a little at a time. However I can do it. This is my only job, and I will do it with as little judgment as I can, but no matter what, I continue to do it. As a result, my fear and doubt have evolved through acceptance into understanding and now into a new vision.

A Link in the Chain of Atonement

The last time I read this paragraph this morning, I returned to gratitude. I am grateful for my part in the Atonement and ready to continue preparing my mind. In this way, Jesus can direct me to whatever miracles I am to perform. I am ready to be a link in the chain of Atonement, to stand beside my brother and sister, holding a hand in each of mine, one strong and powerful chain of miracle workers.

III. Atonement and Miracles P 2

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² “Heaven and earth shall pass away” means that they will not continue to exist as separate states. My word, which is the resurrection and the life, shall not pass away because life is eternal. You are the work of God, and His work is wholly loveable and wholly loving. This is how a man must think of himself in his heart, because this is what he is. 

“Heaven and earth shall pass away” means that they will not continue to exist as separate states.

This passage from Chapter 11 helped me to understand this. ⁷For as Heaven and earth become one, even the real world will vanish from your sight. ⁸The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven. ⁹The reinterpretation of the world is the transfer of all perception to knowledge. (ACIM, T-11.VIII.1:7-9)

The real world is the world we made but without ego errors. As we heal our minds, we become aware of the real world, and it is at this point that we stand before the gates where God takes the final step. So, to say that, as Heaven and earth become one, even the real world vanishes, it seems to me that he is talking about a fully healed mind.

This makes sense to me since both Heaven and earth are in our minds. As the mind heals, perception is purified. Thus, without obstruction, knowledge flows freely. So instead of a split mind, there is only the holy mind. That is to say, there are no perceptions as we have here on earth (our split mind), But rather there is knowledge (Heaven). Duality reverts to non-duality, not in an act of destruction, but in an act of healing.

The Work of God

You are the work of God, and His work is wholly loveable and wholly loving.

God created us like Himself; that is, He created us Love. Thus, it must be that we are Love, too. The world, which is opposite to truth in every way, teaches that we are not lovable and certainly not loving. So, strange as it sounds, we must learn to remember what we are. The entire A Course in Miracles has this as its purpose. We are innocent. We are Love.

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ACIM Revelation, Time and Miracles. 3 Awe should be reserved for revelation, to which it is perfectly and correctly applicable. 4 “No man cometh unto the Father but by me” does not mean that I am in any way separate or different from you except in time, and time does not really exist.

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 3 Awe should be reserved for revelation, to which it is perfectly and correctly applicable. It is not appropriate for miracles because a state of awe is worshipful, implying that one of a lesser order stands before his Creator. You are a perfect creation, and should experience awe only in the presence of the Creator of perfection. The miracle is therefore a sign of love among equals. Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom. He is also entitled to love because he is a brother, and to devotion if he is devoted. It is only my devotion that entitles me to yours. There is nothing about me that you cannot attain. I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.  

There are a couple of things in this paragraph that jump out at me. Jesus explains that only our Creator deserves our awe. I used to be pretty awe struck by many of the teachers. They seemed to know so much more than me and to be so much closer to awakening. I could barely imagine being where they were. And people who could channel Jesus, or take down whole books of information they didn’t know before it came to them, seemed pretty awesome to me. I thought they were special, and I was awed. And certainly, I thought Jesus was the most awesome of all.

Where Awe Is Appropriate

Now I see that we are all just brothers and sisters, part of the same whole. Some of us are a bit further along than others, but we are all headed in the same direction, and we will all get there (and evidently already have). When that happens (we each become aware of it), the apparent differences will disappear. I will see no difference between any of us, only more of the same. I will feel only love for my Divine Siblings.

Our Creator is awesome, and it is appropriate to feel awe in His presence. I don’t think I will have any problem working up some awe in that case. I wonder what God is like. Shoot, I don’t even know what I am like. I am still too identified with form to imagine formlessness in any real way, especially as it applies to me. I still have too much that is not love to imagine Love as my identity. But I am getting much closer as I consistently forgive all that is not love.

To think of God and to know that He is pure Love and nothing else, well, that really is awesome. To truly appreciate God, though, I have to let go completely of the idea that there is something in God that is not love. Something that is resentful of my wanderings, something that believes punishment is an appropriate response to error, and so I have reason to expect punishment from God. I cannot truly love that of which I am afraid. To think of God as pure Love, awe means wonder to me. To think of Him as punishing, awe means fear to me.

Love and Appreciation

As for Jesus, the appropriate response is not awe but love and appreciation. I imagine standing before Jesus, and I feel those things, and also gratitude that is so intense it makes me cry even as I think of it now. I’m pretty awestruck that he was able to awaken without A Course in Miracles, but that’s not the same kind of awe that is reserved for God. I am doing my level best to be obedient because I want what he has. I am absolutely devoted. If he were standing in front of me, I would hug him. A long time. And with a lot of fervor. Grateful. Really grateful.

The last two sentences say it all.

I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you. 

Jesus and I are the same; we are both a part of God and a part of each other. The difference between us . . . the temporary difference, is that I still have some beliefs in my mind that block my awareness of our wholeness and my purity. What this means is that my true nature is mostly not real to me, but is something I believe in because Jesus tells me that it is real.

I do the work because I trust Jesus. As I do the work, my mind becomes more and more clear, and there is less to block my true self. Soon I will join Jesus in the sweet clarity of my mind and absolutely know my true identity. What was potential will be actuality.

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4 “No man cometh unto the Father but by me” does not mean that I am in any way separate or different from you except in time, and time does not really exist. The statement is more meaningful in terms of a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. You stand below me and I stand below God. In the process of “rising up,” I am higher because without me the distance between God and man would be too great for you to encompass. I bridge the distance as an elder brother to you on the one hand, and as a Son of God on the other. My devotion to my brothers has placed me in charge of the Sonship, which I render complete because I share it. This may appear to contradict the statement “I and my Father are one,” but there are two parts to the statement in recognition that the Father is greater.

This paragraph was very helpful to me in understanding the role Jesus plays in the Atonement. I have this picture in my mind. There is a mountain, and Jesus is climbing it. He is reaching up and holding God’s hand with one of his. And he is reaching down and taking my hand in his and helping me up. It is a lovely symbol for me. If I were an artist, I would paint it and put it on my wall. Well, in my mind, I have done so.

We Are the Same

Jesus wants us to know that we are the same. There is no difference between us except in time, and as he says, time doesn’t really exist, so there is no difference between us. But Jesus woke up first. He realized who he is and what is going on, and he chose to be the way and the light to help us up that mountain. He is a present help when I falter or become confused. And he is there with me when I work miracles, reassuring and encouraging me. He is my comfort when I become discouraged.

The ego mind cannot understand this. It makes no sense that Jesus is with us in a very literal way. The ego only understands separation, so it cannot understand how Jesus can be all things to all people and all at the same time. But this is what Jesus wants us to know. We are all one. There is only one mind, and we are that. The idea that we are separate is just an idea in our mind that we are remembering. Nothing is happening.

Because we are confused and believe something is happening, Jesus is helping us to awaken from the dream of separation. We are so deeply absorbed in this dream that we seem to be far away from our reality and need his help to get back to God. It seems that we cannot simply stop dreaming but must back out slowly, undoing what we have done one step at a time, and Jesus is dedicated to helping us do just that. He is not absent from anyone at any time. He cannot be.

I and My Father

As Jesus awoke from the dream, he realized that “I and my Father are one.” It makes me cry to think of this. It is our goal, our purpose. All other goals fade into insignificance when I think of this. I can say the words, “I and my Father are one,” but to mean them, for them to be true to me… well, that is something else. And yet, it must be true because it is true of Jesus, and Jesus and I are one. I and my Father are one. This is an excellent mantra, a frequent reminder of the truth, and a reminder of my one goal.

I and my Father are one, and the Father is greater. This is another statement that the ego cannot understand. I accept that it is true that we can be one and yet not be equal. Later in the Course, we are told that we are like God in every way, but we did not create God. He created us. Creation goes in only one direction. This is something my little ego mind can grasp, and so this is good enough for me right now. Perhaps when I fully awaken, I will have a better understanding. Or perhaps I will appreciate the mystery and love that.

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ACIM Revelation, Time and Miracles. 1 Revelation induces complete but temporary suspension of doubt and fear. 2. Revelation is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully translated.

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1 Revelation induces complete but temporary suspension of doubt and fear. It reflects the original form of communication between God and His creations, involving the extremely personal sense of creation sometimes sought in physical relationships. Physical closeness cannot achieve it. Miracles, however, are genuinely interpersonal, and result in true closeness to others. Revelation unites you directly with God. Miracles unite you directly with your brother. Neither emanates from consciousness, but both are experienced there. Consciousness is the state that induces action, though it does not inspire it. You are free to believe what you choose, and what you do attests to what you believe.

First, let’s look at revelation. I have had one experience that seems to fit the brief description Jesus gives us. It is not possible for me to share it fully because it didn’t involve words or thoughts. But I can tell you what happened. A friend of mine told me about an experience he had. He felt so much love from God that it left him sitting on the floor sobbing. He said it was so intense he felt like the body could not sustain it for long.

I thought about this and wondered what that would be like. I was told that God loves me, but my ego was also telling me to be afraid of God. One morning while taking my shower, I was considering what it would be like to feel the love of God as my friend did. So, I asked for it. I asked to feel the love of God or as much as I could take. Immediately, it happened!

Words Can’t Describe It

I wish I could convey what that was like in words, but I can’t. It was overwhelming, and like my friend, I had to sit down in the shower and just let it happen. I cried, not out of fear or anything bad, just because I had to. The intensity subsided, but it continued to flow and was unlike anything I had ever experienced.

 At some point, I had the thought that I couldn’t go to work like this, and just like that, it ended. It was like I had turned off the faucet of love. At that time in my life, I was still defended against love, and so I didn’t know how to feel about it. At this point, I would be happy to have the flow, though I don’t know that I could sustain that initial burst of love and still go about my daily business.

The reason I think that is revelation is that it did induce a temporary suspension of doubt and fear. I didn’t care about anything except that love. And if this is how we are meant to communicate with God, I have an inkling now of why it is sometimes referred to as bliss. When I began to study the Course, I only wanted to have a better life, to be a little happier, and to have things go my way. Now, I only want to return to my natural state, to be free of these stories, to return to my Creator.

The Miracle

I laugh at the idea that I could achieve this kind of experience through a physical joining with another human being. But there is something I can do to bring myself closer to others. And I must join with others if I want to remember what I am. The miracle will do this for me, and so I am all about the miracle. As revelation gave me a temporary experience of uniting with God, miracles gave me the experience of uniting with my brothers. It is not the same experience, but it changed my life and put me on the path of awakening.

Revelation is an extraordinary gift, but right now, miracles are more helpful. While revelation unites us with God, miracles unite us with our brother, and uniting with our brothers is the first step to returning home. Home is Wholeness, Oneness, and so cannot be experienced while we still yearn to be separate and unique individuals.

Jesus tells us that both miracles and revelation occur in consciousness, but they do not originate there. Though we experience them within our story, they are inspired from outside the illusion. This reminds me that I cannot cause either revelation or miracles. I can do the work that prepares me to accept them, but I cannot make them happen. Jesus says that we are to perform miracles, and that makes sense because consciousness is where action takes place. The inspiration for that action comes from outside the illusion.

Belief

You are free to believe what you choose, and what you do attests to what you believe. This last sentence is helpful to me as I look for evidence of doubt and fear in my mind. The ego is always pointing to guilt and fear. And in my perfect freedom as God’s Son, I can choose to believe anything I want to believe, and what I believe will manifest as my life.

How handy, right? I don’t have to wonder how my life got into its present state.  It is a reflection of the beliefs I hold in my mind. Why do I act as I do? I act according to my beliefs. This makes the solution clear. Choose different beliefs, and experience a different life. Choose different beliefs and awaken. This is the miracle, this change of mind. What we see and how we feel is the effect of the miracle. Sometimes we are aware of the effect, sometimes not. But it always works.

II. Revelation, Time and Miracles P 2

² Revelation is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully translated. That is why any attempt to describe it in words is impossible. Revelation induces only experience. Miracles, on the other hand, induce action. They are more useful now because of their interpersonal nature. In this phase of learning, working miracles is important because freedom from fear cannot be thrust upon you. Revelation is literally unspeakable because it is an experience of unspeakable love.

In this paragraph, Jesus is reinforcing what he said before. Revelation is personal and can’t be shared. I was able to share the fact of my revelation but not the experience of it. Miracles, though, induce action. And Jesus tells us this is important. In the previous paragraph, Jesus tells us that miracles are actions and that they make us closer to our brothers. This paragraph emphasizes another benefit. In performing miracles, we get used to the idea that we are free from fear.

He says this freedom cannot be thrust upon us. You would think that we would be thrilled to be free of fear, but evidently not. I certainly experienced fear of freedom from fear in my life even after I began to study the Course. How do I know? Because I still experienced fear. Fear is no more real than pain, so why do I feel it? Even now, after all these years, I still have fear sometimes.

Forgive and Release

The difference now is that I know where the fear comes from, and I know I don’t have to believe it. I might read about a child dying, and I remember how fragile these bodies are. There is a thought that this could as easily happen to my granddaughter, and fear runs through me. I identify that thought as an ego device to keep me focused on the story rather than on the truth of who we all are.

I forgive and let go, and as the thought blinks out, the fear is gone as well. No matter how often this happens to me, I still feel a thrill of amazement at the miracle. One time several years ago, my son had a procedure that went wrong. I talked about this in Principle of Miracles 50. He was in such excruciating pain that he literally could not talk. We didn’t know if there was permanent damage or if this would pass.  I was in such fear for him that I couldn’t think outside the ego mind, which was frozen in fear.

After a while, as I asked the Holy Spirit for help, my mind began to clear, and I could hear the Voice for God. I went back and forth for a few days as I got sucked into the ego voice of fear. When I was momentarily free of fear, the ego whispered shame to me that I would be happy when my son was endangered. As if my lapse in fear was going to result in his becoming worse. The ego wants us to believe that fear protects us.

This Can’t Be True

I remembered this could not be true and listened again to Spirit. I sent a message to some friends asking for their prayerful support. Messages were returned, and the blessing was that not one of them said anything about how sad or scary this was. Each message was a message of truth. God bless my friends.

During those few days, I had to remain vigilant for the truth. It had been a long time since I had gone through something like this, where I was overwhelmed with doubt and fear. I was reminded to be compassionate when others are confused and afraid. The truth is simple, but when the ego has your attention, it doesn’t always feel simple.

Some True Things

Once I returned to sanity, I remembered some true things.

• There is nothing outside my mind, and that includes my son and his injury.
• I am not sick and cannot die, but I can confuse myself with things that do, and that is true for my son as well.
• I remember that my son and I are not two separate beings; we are one. When I am afraid for my son, I am, in my mind, separating us. If I am ok, but my son is not, that means we are separate.
• When I think my son needs to be healed, I am, at that moment, an unhealed healer. As I am healed, I withdraw my projection and ask that my mind be healed of the belief in pain and suffering so that I can be truly helpful.
• My Spirit provides exactly what I need to support me. I trust my Spirit, and this is equally true for my son.
• No matter what seems to be happening or how much proof I have to the contrary, nothing is happening. Both My son and I are safe in God. We are dreaming of fear and pain, and that is all.

The Way to the Miracle

This is the way to the miracle. I hear the Voice for God, and I heed that voice rather than the ego. I remember the truth for my son while he may not be able to do so, just as my friends did for me. And I ask that my mind be healed of whatever it is that is causing the situation with my son. It is my understanding that I am responsible for everything in my life, including my thoughts about my son. I wait in happy anticipation to see how the miracle will show up in our story.

This miracle of a healed mind made it possible for me to help. It brought me closer to him and closer to my friends who helped me. It proved to me that it is safe not to be afraid. I saw that this is possible to change my mind regardless of the circumstances. And so, the next time I needed this lesson, it came more easily and more quickly.

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ACIM Principles of Miracles 49 The miracle makes no distinction among degrees of misperception. Principle 50 The miracle compares what you have made with creation, accepting what is in accord with it as true, and rejecting what is out of accord as false.

ACIM Principles of Miracles 49, 50

Principles of Miracles 49, 50 

49 The miracle makes no distinction among degrees of misperception. It is a device for perception correction, effective quite apart from either the degree or the direction of the error. This is its true indiscriminateness.

Perception is either true or it isn’t. All errors are simply errors, not bigger errors or worse. One is not harder to correct than another. If I have an experience of cancer, it is the same error I experience when I have a headache. Each of these experiences is the result of believing in pain, suffering, and death.

There is no such thing as pain. As Jesus tells us in Lesson 190, ³If God is real, there is no pain. ⁴If pain is real, there is no God. (ACIM, W-190.3:3-4) Pain cannot be real because if it were, then the pain would be part of God because only what is of God is real. God is Love, and Love is not pain. The same is true for all forms of suffering. If I suffer from physical pain, emotional pain, and the belief in lack and loss, it is all the same error. So, what is this pain in my foot all about if it is not real? It is my belief in pain projected onto the foot.

Just a Belief

When the error is corrected, and I understand the impossibility of pain and suffering, none of the causes will be meaningful to me. Pain and fear of cancer disappear with the same ease as does the pain from a headache and the fear of poverty. When I absolutely know that death cannot exist because Life is all-encompassing and has no opposite, there is no grief. What is there to grieve when I realize there is no death, nowhere to go, no state other than Wholeness, other than God?

All that changes is a belief. An untrue belief is replaced with a true belief. How could one belief be bigger or harder than another, and yet it certainly feels so? It was hard for me to even write the words “the death of a child.” That feels big, enormous, awful, and impossible to face, but that is because I still believe in death and loss.  

I don’t believe that anything happens to us when we die other than we let go of the idea of a body, but I believe that the person who does so is out of my reach, and so I suffer from a sense of loss when someone dies. That, too, is just a thought, just an idea, and can be healed. This is what the miracle is for. I ask for perception correction in this area. I ask for a miracle.

Principle 50

⁵⁰ The miracle compares what you have made with creation, accepting what is in accord with it as true, and rejecting what is out of accord as false.

This is my favorite principle, I think. It is so simple and so clear. I feel that process in my own mind. This is what happened when I was working on the idea of pain. I said to Spirit that I was in pain and that I was ready to have my perception corrected. So each time I felt pain, I brought that belief to Him. I still do this every single time, no matter what form the pain takes, physical or emotional. I ask for the truth, and I know that pain is not real. God did not create pain, so it is not the truth.

I feel grief, and I bring it to the Holy Spirit for the miracle. God did not create grief or loss, and so it cannot be so. Again, this is something I made up, so it’s not real. I am released as my perception is corrected. If I feel lonely or fearful or bitter, it doesn’t matter the story that seems to be the cause. What is not real cannot be made real with a story, no matter how compelling the story is.

When I first began reading the Course and doing the lessons, it created a crack in my mind that let in just a little light, and I began to doubt what I thought I knew. It took a long time practicing what I was learning before I was able to accept the healings being offered to me. I was fooled at first when these teachings started making sense because I thought that meant I had changed my mind.

The Miracle

I thought that just because I could see the sense of it, I was no longer under the sway of ego beliefs. It soon became obvious to me that was not the case. That was a confusing and frustrating time for me. I was trying to use the ego mind to heal the ego mind, and it wasn’t working. All that was really happening is that I was convincing myself that there was another way and that I wanted it. Next, I had to practice what I was learning.

The actual healing, the miracle itself, arises from the mind that is made ready for it. As it says in principle 7, “Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first.” Bringing my thoughts to the Holy Spirit for healing and choosing that healing over anything else I think I might want seems to be the way of purification.

The whole process seems to revolve around desire. What is it I desire? Do I desire a pure mind, free of ego thoughts? That is not always as simple as it seems just reading the words on the page. I notice that I sometimes still place value where there is none, such as holding onto fear. If I place value on something that is not a creation of God, my mind is not pure, and this is why I cannot ask for a miracle from a place of fear.

When My Son Was in Pain

My son had a reaction to a medical procedure and was in excruciating pain. There was potential for damage and even for death, depending on the cause of the reaction. My first reaction was fear, and all I wanted to do was pray that he be saved from pain and that I will be saved from loss. I wanted that miracle. I wanted to tell him to get up and walk because he was healed.

But I did recognize that I was praying, not out of conviction but out of fear, and I knew this was not right. I became open to true healing a bit at a time as I was able. I asked others to stand with me on this. As number 19 says, “Miracles make minds one in God. They depend on cooperation because the Sonship is the sum of all that God created.”

At one time, I could not have done this. I could not have stepped out of my fear. Later I could have done so after the fact after circumstances had changed enough for me to see more clearly. Even later, after more practice of the Course, I could eventually see through my fear even while it was happening, but it would take some time, and it was not certain. This time it was different. Even in the midst of my confusion, I was absolutely certain I wanted a healed mind.

With a Little Help From My Friends

My friends helped me with their unwavering support and by being the strength, I leaned on. They sent me words to point the way back to the truth. Overnight my prayer became that my mind be healed of the belief in pain, sickness, and suffering. What else is there to heal, after all, but the mind? Accepting the atonement for myself is my only function.

As my mind began to clear, I realized that I do trust Spirit. I trust my script and my son’s script to provide only and all that is needed for our awakening. I went with him to his next procedure, and the pain was really awful, and the doctor did not instill confidence. When I felt fear rising in me, I acknowledged it, and then I remembered to ask the Holy Spirit for help to see clearly. When I felt fear, it was as if a fog encased me and kept me from the truth, but I knew what I wanted, and I refused to believe in the fog, and so it went away. I did this each time fear came.

It seems like it is a body that needs healing, and the more desperate our fear, the more this seems to be true. But it is always the mind that needs correction. We made fear and pain. We made sickness and suffering. Just as we made death. Now it is time for us to compare these things with creation and to reject what is out of accord with it. I see that fear is the first of these. When I let go of fear and embrace truth instead, all the rest follows. I give my complete willingness to healing, and the miracle is the result.

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ACIM Principles of Miracles 47 The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. Principle 48 The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time.

ACIM Principles of Miracles 47, 48

Miracles Principles 47, 48

⁴⁷ The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. In this sense it is timeless.  

When I feel like someone has attacked me, it is possible I will feel the need to defend myself, and that defense will be an attack. This creates a cycle into which no healing can come. It is like a war that has no end. The soldier on one side shoots a soldier on the other side, and then that side shoots a soldier on the other side, and it goes on and on. The war cannot end because the rule is to defend when you are attacked, and sometimes, attack first as a defense against possible attacks.

Suppose the soldiers notice that if this continues, then soon there will be only one left standing. Maybe that means his side wins, but at what cost? Who will care except maybe that last soldier? But what can be done to stop the killing? Usually, someone outside the battleground begins negotiations for peace.

My War

For many years of my life, I was at war with everyone. No one died from my attacks, and they did not kill me, but there was much suffering. Even when there was a truce, no one could relax because we all had to be on the lookout for the next volley of attacks, and you never knew where they would come from. It could easily be someone you thought was a friend, even a loved one.

But just as in a war between armies, there was a limit to the pain and destruction I could take. I decided there must be a better way, and I found that way through A Course in Miracles. Now when I notice that I have again entered the battlefield, I ask for a miracle. I ask that I might learn another way, something that is not painful, something that doesn’t just delay the attack but that corrects the belief that created the need for an attack. I don’t just want another truce; I want war to end. The miracle comes from outside the closed cycle, so it can bring a different solution.

When I ask for the mind to be healed and accept that healing, I save thousands of years of suffering. Many, many battles will not be fought, and many attacks will not be answered. The light that shines away the darkness in my mind spreads throughout the Sonship. When anyone accepts the miracle, we all owe him a debt of gratitude because he accepts it for all of us.

Miracles Principle 48

48 The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time. Only revelation transcends it, having nothing to do with time at all.

How does the miracle control time? The Course tells us that the script is written, but it also tells us that we do have choice. Our choice is how we will see the script and how we will use it. We can use it to go deeper into the illusion or to wake up from the illusion.  We are told that the first split in the mind occurring after separation was consciousness, the receptive mechanism which receives messages from both Spirit and ego.  When we receive a message from the ego, we can believe it or not believe it. And we can also learn to recognize the messages that are from Spirit.

Let’s use a particular circumstance to examine this idea. One time when I was still working, I hurt my neck and was having a lot of pain because of it. The script had me going through this problem and experiencing a number of consequences. The direction the script took me depended on the decisions I made. It was possible that I could lose my job because I had to take so much time off. This would lead to other consequences, some far-reaching. Or I could use this script to make choices that help me understand the connection between suffering and guilt. There are lots of lessons that could be learned from this script.

Here’s an Example

Or, let’s say at about the same time as I hurt my neck, I also had the opportunity to deepen my understanding of the Course. I gained more understanding about the way these things occur and why. I became more willing to be receptive to the Holy Spirit and more willing to set aside my thoughts. In this way, I could be more open to the truth. Consciousness is not creative, but rather it is a perceiver, and as such, it can never have knowledge. But it can be trained to true perception, and that is what’s happening. I am learning to perceive more truly than before.

When I was first studying the Course, I was confused about healing, and so I had a lot of false starts. At first, I felt guilty for being in pain, like I had done something wrong and so was being punished for not being a better Course student. Then I thought that I could fix it by figuring out what I did wrong. I could learn the right words to say and remember to say them often.

That wasn’t working, but I was at least sure it was my thoughts that were the problem. So, I tried changing my thoughts. I figured I could heal my neck if I stayed faithful to the belief that I am not a body. I thought that meant I should not go to the doctor or take medicine because then that would mean I believe in the body. But my neck hurts. This was hard. And painful. Maybe you can relate to this confusion and the frustration it caused.

Upset but Determined

I was angry, frustrated, and scared, but still determined to gain the understanding I needed. Finally, I stopped resisting the pain and stopped trying to use my own thinking to work this out. I remembered my purpose is to wake up by healing the mind. This script is exactly all and only what I need to wake up. I trust my Spirit. (I trust the script.) So, I ask Spirit what it is I am to learn from this, what I am to do, to understand, to know. I ask how it is I am to see this. I ask for the blessing of a miracle.

With a new understanding, I turn my attention away from the body (effect), and I ask that my mind be healed. Because I became receptive to a more helpful way of experiencing this pain in the neck, I now had a truer perception of this situation. The result is that certain effects were no longer going to be experienced. The neck would heal eventually, but for as long as the pain stayed, I experienced it without fear or guilt. I learned to breathe through the pain. I was guided to a doctor who helped on the physical level.

Becoming More Receptive to Guidance

Because of this kind of change, I didn’t miss as much work, and so there was no worry of losing my job. Because I was not making the pain worse through the stress caused by frustration and fear, I wasn’t so hard to get along with. Who knows what damage I might have done to my relationships otherwise? The more receptive I was to guidance, the faster I learned the lesson the pain came to bring me. And the shorter the path to awakening.

It becomes shorter because the script took a sharp turn, and I avoided a lot of the effects that I would have had to experience if I had stayed with the ego thinking. Think of the script not as a straight road but as a road with many twists and turns and lots of ways to get to the same place. Some of those roads take you on the scenic route and are more time-consuming. But if you listen closely to your Navigation System, you can avoid them when you are tired of the scenery and just want to go Home.

This is how we lessen time through the miracle. The change in my thinking (the miracle) elevated my perception to something closer to truth. I no longer needed certain lessons, and those are now in some other form of the script, but not in the one I am on. True perception helped me avoid certain ego pitfalls, so I lost that time as well.                                                                                                                                                           

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ACIM Principles of Miracles 44 The miracle is an expression of an inner awareness of Christ and acceptance of His Atonement. Principle 45 A miracle is never lost. Principle 46 The Holy Spirit is the highest communication medium.

ACIM Principles 44, 45, 46

Principles of Miracles 44, 45, 46

⁴⁴ The miracle is an expression of an inner awareness of Christ and acceptance of His Atonement.

I used to be very confused about what this meant. I knew that Christ was my true identity, but mostly that was a learned response. But I was not actually aware of it. I didn’t feel like Christ. And certainly, if I saw accepting his Atonement as having undone the ego, I didn’t qualify for that either. And yet, sometimes, and more and more often, I experienced the miracle of a healed mind and, slowly and then more frequently, the effects of a healed mind.

So, I gathered from this that when I was aware of Christ within and when I accepted His Atonement, I experienced miracles. Over a period of time, I began to realize that although I would slide back into forgetfulness, the miracle was not lost. Once my mind was healed, it stayed healed. I never lost anything. It only seemed I had lost it because my attention was sidetracked from the truth to the ego. If I lost what I had gained each time, I would never wake up. One day, I asked for clarity, and this is what I received from Brother.

Jesus, what do you want me to know about this principle?

A Message

There is no moment when Christ is not your Self. There are only moments when you choose to be unaware of your Self. Don’t be concerned about this. It is unimportant and changes nothing. Your practice is enlightening your mind, and it will unfold perfectly. Allow yourself to be in each moment and to feel what comes up to be felt. Trust the process. Trust Me.

The ego mind tries to reassert itself, but this can never happen. You do not walk backward on this path. What is happening is that unhealed thoughts are coming to your awareness, and sometimes you experience moments of confusion. The ego tendency to guilt and fear arises, and you momentarily turn toward that.

Look at this with Me when it happens so that I can teach you it is meaningless. Fear is a response you taught yourself; in God’s Kingdom, it does not exist, so it does not exist. This is what you will learn as you continue to bring your thoughts to me for purification.

Confusion

Jesus, I notice that even when I am in this uncomfortable state of confusion, I don’t believe in my awakening. Behind the confusion is the certainty that it is not real and it will pass, that You will heal this, too. But I still have all the feelings of being lost, of being afraid or angry, or whatever the situation brings up.

Yes, this is what happens when you believe the fear thoughts. Just as the miracle is an expression of an inner awareness of Christ and the acceptance of His Atonement, fear is an expression of identifying with ego and accepting its thought system of separation. You feel battered by these expressions of fear, anger, anxiety, frustration, and all the others.

You feel this way because you have told yourself that you should not feel them, and yet they are inevitable when you experience yourself as separate. Your upset is the result of believing you have sinned. You have not, but because you believe you have and because you are afraid of seeing yourself this way, the ego mind creates a fog of confusion and you feel like you don’t know what is happening.

The way to break this cycle is to realize that anything you feel is acceptable. You cannot be guilty because you were not created guilty. You cannot be guilty any more than God could be guilty because you are His Extension. Feel whatever you feel, and without guilt confusing the issue, you will quickly recognize it for what it is and move through it. You already have learned to laugh at your false beliefs once you remember your Self. I am only telling you how to do it faster and with less discomfort.   

Understanding

Yes, I can see what you mean, Jesus. I love you and appreciate you so much. I love my life now that I understand what it is for. And I invite your help the next time I do this. What you said makes perfect sense. It is not the negative emotions and the false beliefs that make me suffer, but rather the belief they should not be happening and the belief that having them means I am a sinner. I didn’t realize that this was the belief I was holding. I am happy to have that belief healed for me and for all of us.

Principle 45

⁴⁵ A miracle is never lost. It may touch many people you have not even met, and produce undreamed of changes in situations of which you are not even aware.

I write a lot, and it is posted and reposted, and published in more than one place. Most of my writing teaches through describing my experiences. Sometimes I hear about a miracle that was triggered by my story, but most of the time, I don’t know who is touched by something I wrote.  The same is true of anything I might say. How do I know who might be affected or how?

One time, I was caught in the trap of thinking someone’s thought error was the cause of my discomfort. A friend made a gentle but true statement, and though it took me a few minutes, it started the healing process in my mind. Unless I told him about it, he would not be aware of the miracle his words made.

Proof

I don’t judge the effectiveness of the miracle. I trust Jesus, who is in charge of the Atonement and trusting him, I don’t look for proof. In fact, there may not be any proof for me to find. Not all miracles manifest in form. I remind myself that miracles occur because the mind is healed. The healing of the mind is the miracle, and the appearance of a miraculous change in the world is a side effect and not necessary to the miracle.

Principle 46

⁴⁶ The Holy Spirit is the highest communication medium. Miracles do not involve this type of communication, because they are temporary communication devices. When you return to your original form of communication with God by direct revelation, the need for miracles is over.

I decided to start by looking up what is meant by communication medium.  Here is what I found. “A medium in communication is a system or channel through which a speaker or writer addresses their audience. It’s an outlet that a sender uses to express meaning to their audience, and it can include written verbal or nonverbal elements.” 

So, conversation would be one type of communication medium, as would writing. Television would be a communication medium, I suppose, and movies as well. All of those types of communication mediums require the use of words which limits understanding because they must be interpreted by the receiver. Thus, the meaning may not be what was intended by the sender.

Use of Words

My experience with the Holy Spirit is that I often do use words when I communicate with Him, but that is for my benefit. Using words helps clarify the question in my own mind. The Holy Spirit does not need words from me or to me. He can use them or not, whichever is most helpful to me. When I ask for healing, I may use words, but most often, no words are involved when I receive that healing. I may put words to it later in order to share the experience, but the healing itself simply occurs. My mind becomes clear, and I am returned to peace.

Perhaps this helps explain why the Holy Spirit is the highest communication medium. ⁹Let us not forget, however, that words are but symbols of symbols. ¹⁰They are thus twice removed from reality. (ACIM, M-21.1:9-10) Any communication that involves words is going to be limited. Since the Holy Spirit doesn’t need words, the message is clear.  Also, He knows exactly how to get an answer to me in a way I understand and accept. And, His message is the message God would have us receive. I see why He is the highest communication medium.

Some Uncertainty

I’ve noticed that I am perceiving things differently than I have before. It felt absolutely right, but because it was so different, and also because it is perhaps not typical, I was concerned. I asked the Holy Spirit to let me know if I am on my path or if I had veered off. He brought me all the way to Colorado for my answer and gave it to me in words from a teacher. Other times the answer comes as I write. Sometimes I don’t realize the question was there until it was answered.

Miracles, on the other hand, are temporary communication devices. They are needed only in the illusion and until we are awakened. Thus, they are not the high communication medium the Holy Spirit is, as He is eternal. I think of miracles and true perception as being similar in that way. Neither one is real, but both are necessary until they aren’t.

There is another form of communication, and this is communication with God through direct revelation. I have had only one experience of communicating with God through direct revelation. However, this principle says that I will return to it and that it is my original form of communication. When I do return to direct revelation, it will be because the need for miracles is over.

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ACIM Principles of Miracles 42 A major contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing you from your false sense of isolation, deprivation and lack. Principle 43 Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of miracle-readiness.

ACIM Principles of Miracles 42, 43

Miracles Principles 42, 43

⁴² A major contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing you from your false sense of isolation, deprivation and lack. 

Why do I feel alone? Why do I feel deprived and as if I lack something? I used to believe it was because I wasn’t deserving of friends or lovers. They didn’t want me. Do you see how I perceived my loneliness to be someone else’s fault? If they would just like me, I would be happy. When I felt deprived of money, it was because someone wasn’t paying me enough, or hiring me, or because my parents didn’t raise me right.

Believing my unhappiness was caused by someone or something else over which I had no control set up an endless cycle from which there was no escape. But then I found A Course in Miracles. It told me that I am not a victim of the world I see and that the secret to salvation is that I but do this to myself. It took me a long time to be willing to believe this. I had always thought that projecting my guilt onto something else was my salvation. It took a giant leap of faith to become willing to consider that there was an alternative and then step into that alternative.

Walking on Water

Peter walking on water has always been a powerful symbol to me because I don’t swim and have had a frightening moment of near drowning. If Jesus, himself, were standing on the water outside the boat and holding out his hand to me, I would still be afraid to get out of the boat. This is what it felt like to begin the process of giving up projection. Projection was my boat, and Jesus was telling me I didn’t need it. He was holding out his hand to me, and I was sure that if I stopped projecting, I would drown in my guilt. After all, if they were not guilty, then surely that meant I was. I had never considered the possibility that no one was guilty.

Through the study of the Course, I slowly became convinced that projection was not in my best interest. And that, when seen clearly, it didn’t make sense. After all, if I am unhappy because of someone else, then I could never be happy because I could never control that one. Lord knows I had tried often enough. I tried using guilt and fear to get my husband and children to do what I thought I needed him to do.

Learning to Question This

In my own mind, I was so clearly right, or at least entitled, and yet they persisted in living their own lives in their own way. From my perspective, it seemed they did this in spite of how much their behavior was hurting me. Seeing this thought process now, I can’t believe how deeply I bought into it, and yet that is the way I lived my life, and never questioned it before the Course. My attempts to project my guilt never left me feeling innocent, and still, I continued this mindless behavior, never questioning it.

When I finally did begin to question this insane way of living, I still had to become convinced that it would work. I started off small with little things. I would bring a thought of deprivation to the Holy Spirit. Then I would tell him that I couldn’t see any way this was my fault. It sure seemed like this guy needed to change his ways in order for me to be happy. At first, I would put that thought on the altar only to snatch it back. How could this be my guilt? How could taking responsibility for it lead to my happiness? Surely it would only condemn me.

But eventually, I became willing to give it a try. Not because my sharp intellect discerned the truth of the Course. I tried because life was too painful to continue on as it was, and something in me was drawn to A Course in Miracles. I felt the truth before I understood it. Once I set those thoughts on the altar and walked away from them, the healing began.

And So Healing Began

The miracles began as my mind was healed. I experienced the peace of mind that was not dependent on my life circumstances. I began to hear the Voice of God in my mind, and I learned to heed It rather than the ego voice. And I began to understand that the guilt I had always felt and that made me feel so isolated and abandoned did not come from something happening to me. The guilt came from the belief that I was separate from God and out of His favor.

I eventually understood why I was so determined to project guilt onto others. This unconscious guilt and subsequent fear were so great that I felt I had to get rid of it. I projected it away from myself and onto the world that I made just for that purpose. So, I was not guilty of something I did. I did something because of the guilt I felt. The guilt came first, and the story was my projection. Just to be sure, within the story, I created characters onto whom I could project blame. Surely with all these layers of projection, I could distance myself from the awful guilt I felt and see myself as blameless, and yet, I only felt trapped.

I Am Saved

But God’s love for me has no bounds, and He would not leave me in this hell of guilt and isolation I made for myself. He gave me the Holy Spirit to guide me out of my confusion. He helps me back out of my stories and let go of the guilt that made them. As soon as I loosen my grip on my beliefs, the Holy Spirit takes the guilt from me, and I am left in peace. Lifetime after lifetime of hiding from God, of living in fear and smothering in guilt, and then, nothing. No guilt or fear. My mind is clear, and it is as if nothing happened. It is truly a miracle.

Miracles Principle 43

⁴³ Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of miracle-readiness.

Miracles are mine when I am ready for them. I prepare my mind by noticing what needs correction and asking the Holy Spirit for that correction. This goes on all day long. I don’t go mining for ego thoughts. This has never been necessary. I just pay attention and ask for healing when I notice a need.

If it is not something from my mind, there are plenty of examples in books, movies, conversations with friends, the news, and, of course, politics. What a great year this is for cleaning out the mind! You can’t go an hour without being reminded that people believe they are separate and have separate goals. They often believe that the only way they can be happy is if they win. And do not often see that winning at the expense of others is not really winning. Election time is a perfect example of the separation idea.

I get to see what I believe in as I read or hear the election talk. Do I believe that I know what should happen and who should win the election? Do I believe in a world that hangs in the balance of an election? Is my point of view the right one, and am I somehow harmed if my imagined needs are not met? That I can’t be happy if my favored candidate does not win?  I can talk a good talk, but do I notice my stomach knotting, my muscles tightening? Do I feel the urge to put my two cents in?

There Is Work to Do

Even if I am not doing any of those things, there is work to do. I may see each candidate as a child of God doing what they came here to do. It may be that I see that they are playing the part that we all need them to play. I may see that their part is needed in the grand scheme to experience separation so that we can make the choice for awakening.  Even then, there is much for me to forgive. If someone else is having a bad dream about the election and I notice, it is my job to heal that thought in the mind.

I love that there is only one mind. How efficient it is that we can heal anything we notice. If you notice I am confused, you can ask the Holy Spirit to heal your mind of the belief you identify as mine. It’s all the same. I have in my mind everything you have in your mind. We, each of us, have the responsibility and the opportunity to heal the mind that we are.

This Is How the Mind Is Purified

If I notice someone is confused and thinking with the ego, it is completely unnecessary for me to point this out to them and suggest they do something about it. I can just ask the Holy Spirit to heal that in my mind. It does not matter which direction the healing is coming from. If someone asks for help in seeing differently, I can offer words, but I will still ask that my mind be healed. If I am particularly attuned, my words will lead them to the Holy Spirit within, and they can get the help they need.

No matter how I go about it, my job is to desire a healed mind and be willing to do my part. I notice what needs healing and ask for the healing. I really mean it, as I want the healing more than I want the error. That’s it. That’s all I have to do. This is how the mind is purified, how it becomes ready for the miracle. It is so simple and so absolutely necessary if I want a miracle. I don’t have to do anything else because the miracle does not need my help. It simply arises from a mind that is ready for it.

Regina Dawn Akers did a very helpful teaching in letting go of the belief in rejection. Click Here to read or listen to it.