A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

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.

Chapter 18: The Passing of the Dream

Section III: Light in the Dream

Read ACIM Chapter 18, Section III (pages 378-80)

How do we join with our brother instead of separating?

In Section II Jesus explains how we joined with the ego’s idea of trying to control reality and how guilt was thus made real in our minds. He shows us the ego’s answer to guilt was to see it in our brother. “You do not realize that you are making them act out for you, for if you did the guilt would not be theirs, and the illusion of satisfaction would be gone.” (T-18.II.5:6) We also learned that as we practice taking all our projections of guilt to the Holy Spirit, we will see holiness instead of guilt. “He uses everyone who calls on Him as means for the salvation of everyone. And He will waken everyone through you who offered your relationship to Him.” (T-18.II.7:6-7) As we learn to see innocence instead of guilt, we are joining with our brother instead of separating. We are reversing our past goal. Instead of bring truth to illusion, we are now bringing illusions to the truth.

Why are we keeping our minds so busy with the things of this world?

In Section III Jesus carries his mind retraining further. He knows what is going on at unconscious levels in our minds. He knows that these false ideas need to be transformed by the Light of truth. Because we have pushed the guilt we believe is ours to unconscious levels, we are not aware that it is there. That is why he tells us here, “A little flicker of your eyelids, closed so long, has not yet been sufficient to give you confidence in yourself, so long despised. You go toward Love still hating It, and terribly afraid of Its judgment upon you. And you do not realize that you are not afraid of Love, but only of what you have made of It.” (3:4-6) We unconsciously keep our mind so busy with the things of this world so that we do not get in touch with the guilt that is hidden below the stories of separation reflected in the world. We think the images of separation will protect us from God’s wrath for killing Love’s oneness and shattering it into pieces.

Why does Jesus emphasize that guilt is the cause of the world we see?

We do not realize what is going on at unconscious levels, so that is why Jesus is bringing it to our awareness now as part of our awakening. “And you sought a blackness so complete that you could hide from truth forever, in complete insanity. What you forgot was simply that God cannot destroy Himself. The light is in you. Darkness can cover it, but cannot put it out.” (1:5-8) Because the Light is in us, we can remember It when we are ready. As soon as we have even a tiny willingness to see past the guilt to the holiness in our brother, we have the help of all of Heaven. Jesus wants us to know that he joins us in this one goal. “You who hold your brother’s hand also hold mine, for when you joined each other you were not alone. Do you believe that I would leave you in the darkness that you agreed to leave with me? In your relationship is this world’s light. And fear must disappear before you now.” (4:1-4)

Who walks with us in bringing Heaven to the Son of God?

Jesus wants us to understand that when we accept the Love that is in our brother, we are accepting God. We are joining with God’s Will for us. We are accepting the goal of remembering the truth. We are bringing illusions to truth instead of trying to replace truth with illusions. Jesus wants us to know how much help we have in bringing Heaven to the Son of God. He tells us, “I hold your hand as surely as you agreed to take your brother’s. You will not separate, for I stand with you and walk with you in your advance to truth. And where we go we carry God with us.” (5:5-7)

The Truth of our oneness in God is in every brother. And we will find It there as we desire to see It. We cannot truly join with our brother in illusions because illusions come from the very idea of separation, which is the opposite of joining. That is why frequently in the Course we are told that bodies cannot join because they were made to make appearances of separation seem to be real. When we talk about joining in the Course, we mean union, or being one and the same. In this context Jesus tells us, “Those who would see [the truth of union] will see. And they will join [be one with] with me in carrying their light into the darkness, when the darkness in them is offered to the light, and is removed forever. My need for you, joined with me in the holy light of your relationship, is your need for salvation. Would I not give you what you gave to me? For when you joined your brother, you answered me.” (6:3-7)

As we are willing to see the truth, how does time become readjusted to suit Heaven’s goal?

As we continue to be willing to ‘make whole,’ or see oneness with God where we once saw separation, we heal and are healed. We have the help of Heaven at our disposal. Jesus tells us that even our belief in time and the stories of separation within the framework of time become readjusted to suit Heaven’s goal. “We are made whole in our desire to make whole. Let not time worry you, for all the fear that you and your brother experience is really past. Time has been readjusted to help us do, together, what your separate past would hinder. You have gone past fear, for no two minds can join in the desire for Love without Love’s joining them.” (7:4-7)

In wholeness, time does not exist. In wholeness, we find the truth about every brother. We remember that our unity is constant and that we all have been safe eternally in Heaven. “God cannot destroy Himself.” (1:6) Jesus gives us a parting message in this section that encourages us to hold to the one goal of truth and the blessings that will come from this advance to truth. “You have found your brother, and you will light each other’s way. And from this light will the Great Rays extend back into darkness and forward unto God to shine away the past and so make room for His eternal Presence, in which everything is radiant in the Light.” (8:6-7)

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