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 2, Section VIII (pages 33-35)
It is helpful to remember that the Course says that only Love creates and only like Itself. So when Jesus speaks of creation, he is referring to the extension of Love, which we all are. Since Love is formless, creation has nothing to do with making anything in this world. In the Course’s terminology ‘making’ occurs only in the domain of the ego, the world of separation.
The ego makes up images that appear to be external forms, but they still remain thoughts in the ego mind. Because these images are made up in the ego-mind, when we join with the ego, we believe in these images and perceive them as real. But the good news is that perception does not make reality. It is our belief in these misperceptions that needs to be corrected for us to return to awareness that we remain Love in the Mind of Love. Like our Creator, our true Will is also to create by extending Love and nothing else.
At the end of paragraph one it says, “...whatever you alone make [identified with the ego thought system which believes it is separate from God] is real in your own sight, though not in the Mind of God. This basic distinction [between real and unreal] leads directly into the real meaning of the Last Judgment.” (1:5-6)
The Course redefines the Last Judgment as a process of right evaluation. (3:5) It is a process of learning to discern the difference between reality and illusion, true and untrue, what is worthy and what is not. This is not a process we can do on our own.
Thinking we are on our own means we are identifying with the ego thought system of separation, which is totally false and cannot recognize truth. We need the help of the Holy Spirit referred to in the manual for Teachers as the Voice of Judgment. (See M-15, “Is each one to be judged in the end?” on page 38.) It is the Holy Spirit in our mind That will teach us to evaluate truly and sort out the true from the false.
The Holy Spirit does not make judgments of good and bad. He only distinguishes between real and unreal, true and false. This is why the Last Judgment “is a final healing rather than a meting out of punishment.” (3:3) The Holy Spirit does not condemn. He simply helps us release the thoughts that lead to a false sense of guilt so that we can remember we are still the innocent Son of God. In this world, the last judgment has been portrayed as a condemnation by a fearsome, judgmental God Who punishes us for our mistakes. This section is telling us this is a mistaken idea. In fact, it is a great relief to know that “judgment is not an attribute of God.” (2:3)
It has taken millions of years to teach ourselves that separation from God is real. Because we have invested so strongly in this belief, it can take a similarly long period of undoing to reverse this investment in what is false. But through the power of miracles, the thought reversal that the Holy Spirit brings, the time needed to undo this dream of separation from Love can be shortened immeasurably. Under the Holy Spirit’s direction, the sole purpose of time is to bring about this thought reversal. As we free ourselves from believing in the false ideas of the ego, we are released from guilt and fear. This is our part in the Atonement. We are then in a position to help others free themselves from the conflict and fear brought about by joining with the ego thought system.
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