To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple, we recommend that
you read the corresponding chapter and section in the Text of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
Read ACIM Chapter 12, Section I (pages 215-18)
This is a world of perception. We rely on the body’s senses to give us information and then we interpret based on that information. Believing we have all the ‘facts,’ we act on our interpretation as if it were true. What we don’t realize is that none of the information the body’s senses provides is true because the body itself is an illusion. An illusion cannot be true itself nor can it recognize truth. Relying on the body’s senses literally blinds us to the truth.
When we accept the ego thought system and believe it is true, we will believe what the body tells us because the body is a construct of the ego thought system. It was made to make separation appear to be real. Thus all interpretations based on the ego thought system must be in error. But if we believe in the ego thought system, we make the error real and will not recognize that our interpretations are mistaken. They will always be mistaken as long as we subscribe to the ego thought system.
The way out is to relinquish our predisposition to interpret on our own and turn all interpretation duties over to the Holy Spirit. If we let the Holy Spirit interpret everything on our behalf, He will teach us to disregard illusion so that we can see the truth of Love that is the only reality in all things. Jesus tells us, “Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help, regardless of the form it takes.” (3:3-4)
In paragraph four Jesus is helping us see how we are refusing to accept reality as it is. Reality is oneness. When he says, “There is nothing to prevent you from recognizing all calls for help as exactly what they are except your own imagined need to attack” (4:1), he is referring to our desire to be separate or unique and different. He is referring to our unwillingness to accept oneness as it is. If we do not see the Love in our brother, we will not see the Love in ourselves.
We see what we want to see. “If you are unwilling to see an appeal for help as what it is, it is because you are unwilling to give help and to receive it. To fail to recognize a call for help is to refuse help.” (5:3-4) Jesus is really giving us the key to our salvation here. As we open to seeing in a new way — seeing that there is only Love or a call for Love — we learn to give Love in all situations. By giving Love, we receive it for ourselves. “Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness if you perceive them truly.” (6:1-2)
Because only Love is real, our only response to Reality must be Love. This brings what seems very complicated down to very simple terms. In every situation our job is to maintain Love and gratitude as a consistent state of mind. As we learn the happy habit of seeing all calls for Love as what they truly are, we are returned to right-mindedness and our minds are healed.
In paragraph eight Jesus is encouraging us to apply the Holy Spirit’s interpretation to everything. As we apply the Holy Spirit’s interpretation to the fear we see in others, it helps us with our own fears. The Holy Spirit translates all fear, seen in others or ourselves, to the truth. Fear has many disguises. Many times we have been fooled into thinking that the error was real and that we had to fix it on the outside rather than changing our mind. We are now learning that everything we see is coming from our own mind and that it is only the Holy Spirit That brings our minds to the truth. “Having taught you to accept only loving thoughts in others and to regard everything else as an appeal for help, He has taught you that fear itself is an appeal for help. This is what recognizing fear really means.” (8:7-8)
We are seeing very clearly here that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to reinterpret fear, not ours. When we believe we are separate from God, we feel the loss of His Love, which brings fear. Thus the antidote to fear is always Love. Defense always reinforces the seeming reality of fear. Offering Love instead neutralizes the perceived lack of Love and fear disappears. “If when you perceive [fear] in others you learn to supply the loss [of love], the basic cause of fear is removed. Thereby you teach yourself that fear does not exist in you. The means for removing [fear] is in yourself, and you have demonstrated this by giving [Love].” (9:2-4)
Since only Love is real, Love is the only reality in the world. None of the images we see are real. As we learn to let the Holy Spirit interpret everything on our behalf, we will learn to see past the images, which are symbols of the denial of Love, to the Love that is everywhere. We learn that only Love is real by responding with Love to every call for Love. Just as light dispels darkness, truth dispels the denial of truth because it brings to light the underlying belief in truth. Truth is our oneness in Love. As the truth is brought to light, the dream of separation is seen as untrue.
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