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 15, Section X (pages 324-326)
In paragraph one we see that the time of rebirth is the time of awakening to the truth of our union in the Christ mind, or awakening to the awareness of “the perfect union of the Father and the Son.” (1:1) It is the Holy Spirit in our mind that uses both time and season (what we made up) to return us to seeing our union rather than seeing separation. If we are to be released from our belief in separation, we need to release the idea that it would be a ‘sacrifice’ to let go of making separation, or separate bodies appear to be real.
Sacrifice means to exclude or be without something that is of value to us. To exclude means to judge against or separate from. When we sacrifice (or exclude or judge against) our awareness of our oneness with the Father and the Son, we will feel deprived and guilty. With guilt, which comes with sacrificing or excluding our awareness of union, comes fear. This ‘attraction of guilt’ (1:2) delays our rebirth, but this need not be.
The opposite of exclusion is inclusion. Inclusion means to join with or be one with. Inclusion means union. Jesus tells us in paragraph three: “For in our union you will accept all of our brothers. The gift of union is the only gift that I was born to give. Give it to me, that you may have it.” (3:3-5)
The holy instant is a moment of forgiveness, when we let go of judgment. We let go of guilt. We are thus able to recognize the innocence in our brother and ourselves. We are seeing the Son of God truly and because we are seeing him as God created him, we are seeing him with all the power of God. Because there is no judgment in the holy instant, there is no separation and we are able to include everyone in this vision of innocence. That is why Jesus says, “To see me is to see me in everyone, and offer everyone the gift you offer me.” (2:4)
In paragraph four Jesus is telling us that salvation is very simple. We can let the time of rebirth, the time of Christ, be now. This can be done in an instant because it simply requires a change in perception from belief that separation is real to accepting the oneness of God’s Love. What makes this shift in perception appear to be difficult is our underlying belief that the ego offers us something that we want. Because we think we want the ego’s ‘gifts,’ we think that to join with the Love of God would require the sacrifice of what we treasure in the world.
Jesus wants us to understand how central the idea of sacrifice is to the ego thought system. We don’t realize that what we are treasuring is really nothing. So we are valuing nothing and rejecting God’s gift of all that is real. We are host to the ego when we believe the world has something of value that we want. It then seems that to accept God’s Love we would be His hostage because He would deny us the things we treasure in the world. “The idea is simply this: you believe it is possible to be host to the ego or hostage to God. This is the choice you think you have, and the decision you believe that you must make. You see no other alternatives, for you cannot accept the fact that sacrifice gets nothing.” (5:4-6)
This belief in sacrifice is reflected in the common statement, “Everything has a price.” In paragraph six Jesus shows us how the trick of the ego really works. When we are host to the ego we think we can see guilt in another and thereby deflect it from ourselves, bringing us relief from the guilt we feel. When we project the guilt onto another it seems that we do not pay a price, but the truth is, when we see guilt in another, we are simply reinforcing our belief in our own guilt. Guilt has not left our mind.
To truly let go of guilt we need help from outside of the ego thought system. That help is available from the Holy Spirit in our minds. As we consistently practice taking each perception of guilt and fear to the Holy Spirit, ask to receive His perspective and open our minds to receive it, we release ourselves from the bondage of the ego. But we are unwilling to take our perceptions to the Holy Spirit if we believe we will be asked to give up something in the world we value. It seems that we would be asked to sacrifice what we think we want in order to have the peace of God. “How fearful, then, has God become to you, and how great a sacrifice do you belief His love demands!” (7:1)
We believe that total love would demand the complete sacrifice of everything we value in the world. We don’t realize that what we value in the world is really nothing and that by valuing it we are really sacrificing awareness of everything real that God has given us. Thus God becomes something to be feared because it seems that He asks us to give up everything we value.
We are always choosing between total bondage when we value anything in this world and total freedom when we choose the Holy Spirit’s perception. “You have tried many compromises in the attempt to avoid recognizing the one decision you must make. And yet it is the recognition of the decision, just as it is, that makes the decision so easy.” (9:4-5)
Yet as we practice taking all our perceptions to the Holy spirit to receive His purification, we will learn to recognize the valuelessness of everything that we have treasured in this world. When we recognize something has no value, we freely let it go with no sense of sacrifice. We are then free to accept the gift of all that is real that has always been ours.
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