A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

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Chapter 20: The Vision of Holiness

Section VII: The Consistency of Means and End

Read ACIM Chapter 20, Section VII (pages 439-41)

How is truth restored to us?

Jesus tells us, “Truth is restored to you through your desire, as it was lost to you through your desire for something else. Open the holy place that you closed off by valuing the ‘something else,’ and what was never lost will quietly return. It has been saved for you. Vision would not be necessary had judgment not been made. Desire now its whole undoing, and it is done for you.” (2:2-6)

We made separation by our desire for it. It has not made us happy. We thought it would bring us specialness, but it has only brought us doubt, fear and pain. We now want the truth restored to us because we now see that illusions of separation do not bring us the happiness we seek. We are willing to ‘choose once again.’ And this time we are willing to open to the Holy Spirit by choosing to quiet our mind and accept peace. We allow peace to fill that place in our mind where we were making decisions on our own about what was real. We allow those decisions to be undone for us. We are willing to be shown that separate bodies are not real and that Love can never change into something else.

What is really happening when we still see our brother as a body?

Jesus knows that we are still vacillating in what we want to see. When we still want to see bodies, it will appear hard for us to accept the Holy Spirit’s peace. If we are still insisting on judging what is real on our own, we are still holding back from accepting Christ’s vision, which replaces our false ideas of the reality of separate bodies. Jesus tells us, “And when you hesitate, it is because the purpose [of accepting the truth of oneness] frightens you, and not the means. Remember this, for otherwise you will make the error of believing the means are difficult.” (3:4-5)

When we want to continue seeing our brother as a body, the means to let that go will seem difficult. We will not see the body as nothing because we still want to make the evaluation or judgment that it is something that is real and has value. To this Jesus tells us, “As nothing, which [the body] is, the body cannot meaningfully be invested with attributes of Christ or of the ego. Either must be an error, for both would place the attributes where they cannot be. And both must be undone for purposes of truth.” (4:6-8) Many times throughout the Course, Jesus tells us not to make the error real. Here he reminds us that we cannot want to make something out of nothing and have the truth restored to us.

What is the means the Holy Spirit offers us to serve His purpose?

The Holy Spirit offers us vision. We receive the Holy Spirit’s vision when we refrain from deciding what anything means on our own. We refrain from bringing the past to the present. We stop and step back from thinking in terms of separate bodies. This gives a clean and open space for the Holy Spirit to enter and bring the Light of clarity to our clouded minds. Jesus tells us, “To see the body is a sign that you lack vision, and have denied the means the Holy Spirit offers you to serve His purpose. How can a holy relationship achieve its purpose through the means of sin? Judgment you taught yourself; vision is learned from Him Who would undo your teaching. His vision cannot see the body because it cannot look on sin. And thus [vision] leads you to reality.” (8:2-6)

What is the real question to ask if we want to see with Holy Spirit’s vision?

Jesus tells us, “Your question should not be, ‘How can I see my brother without the body?’ Ask only, ‘Do I really wish to see him sinless?’ And as you ask, forget not that his sinlessness is your escape from fear.” (9:1-3) When we judge what anything means from the perspective of this world, we are deciding on our own and closing off Holy Spirit’s vision. If we want to see our sinless brother, we will open our minds to the Holy Spirit and let the truth be given us. The truth comes to us when we are ready and willing to receive. Only Love is real. When we are ready we will see that nothing has happened to change God’s one Son. God’s laws of extension is still the only Reality. We can relax now and let the truth return to our awareness.

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