To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights, we recommend
that you read the corresponding lesson in the Workbook of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
“My body is a wholly neutral thing.”
This lesson restates core principles that are presented in other forms in the Course. “My body, Father, cannot be Your Son.” (2:1) is another way of saying, “I am not a body, I am free. I am still as God created me.” The idea that the body is a wholly neutral thing parallels the idea that I give everything all the meaning it has for me. The body is a form representative of all forms in this world. Forms are wholly neutral. It is the meaning we give them that makes them seem good or bad, sinful or sinless. Since my body cannot be God’s Son, the body is clearly not me. Yet the ego teaches us that the body is what we are. So we are being taught to step back from our identification with the body as our identity.
When we cease to believe that the body is what we are, all sense of vulnerability disappears. We no longer have anything to defend. Limitation falls away. We are no longer confined to a little space made up of a few cubic feet of flesh and bones. We no longer need to spend all of our time caring for this thing we think we are, trying to make it look pretty and appealing and sheltering it with status symbols in an attempt to give value to the body. Recognizing the body as wholly neutral means we are free to let the Holy Spirit use it for His purpose, which is to bring forgiveness to the dream. Used for His purpose, there is no fear nor guilt. It is used solely to offer the gift of forgiveness everywhere.
Today I offer all my thoughts about the body to the Holy Spirit in recognition that on my own, I have no idea what the body is for. In offering my thoughts to the Holy Spirit, I open my mind to learn of His purpose. Thus will I walk with Him in peace.
Jesus tells us to ask of everything, “What is this for? What is its purpose?” The Course tells us that the body is a communication device. It is a tool to be used and then laid aside when its use is over. In this world we have identified with the body and mistaken the body as what we are. We have made the body our identity, which is weak, vulnerable and dies. Believing this is not a sin. It is just a mistaken idea to be undone. There is no need for guilt.
It was guilt that caused the body to appear to be real in the first place. Within the ego thought system, the body is used as a separating device in order to to project guilt. The ego uses the body’s eyes to see guilt in something outside of “us” in an effort to relieve the pangs of guilt that are in the ego mind we are identifying with.
As we consistently turn to the Holy Spirit to be our Guide, the body serves a new purpose. The body then serves the Holy Spirit’s plan of awakening from the dreams we made. The Holy Spirit uses every device the ego thought system made for separation and turns it into a useful tool to undo the dream.
What is the body for? The ego and the Holy Spirit have totally different responses. As we grow in our desire to serve only Holy Spirit’s purposes, the body becomes a wholly neutral thing. It becomes a communication device to be used to help in remembering the truth that we are all still the same extension of Love that resides in the Mind of God. This I would practice remembering today and every day.
Isn’t this wonderful news? Thank you God, Jesus, Holy Spirit for the Course. It is the only thing that has made sense in this lifetime. Thank you to all who read this. There is a way out, there is only Joy, there is only Peace. This is Truth.
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