A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

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Chapter 20: The Vision of Holiness

Section III: Sin as an Adjustment

Read ACIM Chapter 20, Section III (pages 429-31)

Why does Jesus say that relationships in this world depend upon adjustments?

There is only one true relationship and that is our relationship with God. Any other relationship is coming from our ideas of what we want to be true. Just because we want to make up images of separate bodies does not make it real. Jesus tells us, “The belief in sin is an adjustment. And an adjustment is a change; a shift in perception, or a belief that what was so before has been made different. Every adjustment is therefore a distortion, and calls upon defenses to uphold it against reality.” (1:1-3) Because of the power of our minds, we can choose to see illusions of differences, but then we lose awareness of God’s oneness as our only reality. We become lost in our adjustments.

Why is the ego the self-appointed mediator of all relationships in its world?

The ego, in order to keep all relationships separate and prevent the intrusion of union, must dictate how we see anyone in the dream. If we stopped listening to the ego’s dictates, we would see only holiness. We would see only Love’s oneness. The ego’s adjustments would be lost to us because there would be no interference with the truth. If the ego loses its role as the self-appointed mediator to all our relationships, we would be free of its perceptions.

Do we have a choice to let go of the ego’s adjustments?

Jesus wants us to understand that the choice is up to us. We are not a slave to the ego’s adjustments. The ego’s adjustments are only there to see as long as we want to see it. Jesus tells us, “You made this up. It is a picture of what you think you are; of how you see yourself. A murderer is frightened, and those who kill fear death. All these are but the fearful thoughts of those who would adjust themselves to a world made fearful by their adjustments. And they look out in sorrow from what is sad within, and see the sadness there.” (4:3-7)

We don’t have to keep seeing through the ego’s adjustments, which always wants to see guilt in others in an attempt to get rid of it. Hurling guilt and the experience of punishing dreams are not a happy sight. To this Jesus tells us, “Have you wondered what the world is really like; how it would look through happy eyes? The world you see is but a judgment on yourself. It is not there at all. Yet judgment lays a sentence on it, justifies it and makes it real. Such is the world you see; a judgment on yourself, and made by you. This sickly picture of yourself is carefully preserved by the ego, whose image it is and which it loves, and placed outside you in the world. And to this world must you adjust as long as you believe this picture is outside, and has you at its mercy.” (5:2-7)

Thank goodness we now realize that we have a choice. We do not have to continue believing in the ego’s adjustments. We can choose to see innocence rather than guilt. We can see that there is no outside world and that it has been merely a false judgment on ourselves. We can let go of our defenses against reality. We can look through happy eyes. We can return to the truth and see that all these adjustments never happened in truth.

How is the choice for holiness made day by day?

Jesus tells us to be careful who we ask, “How shall I look upon the Son of God?” If we ask the ego to be our guide, we will continue to see the ego’s adjustment instead of the truth. As we learn instead to see our brother’s holiness day by day, we bless and see that we are blessed. “You and your brother now will lead the other to the Father as surely as God created His Son holy, and kept him so. In your brother is the light of God’s eternal promise of your immortality. See him as sinless, and there can be no fear in you.” (11:7-9)

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