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 20, Section V (pages 434-36)
It is through ‘each miracle of joining’ that we return to recognize our Self in every brother. Every holy relationship is a relationship that recognizes our unity, the fact that we are joined as one. Every holy relationship brings with it the remembrance of our Father’s laws. Jesus tells us, “In this world, God’s Son comes closest to himself in a holy relationship. There he begins to find the certainty his Father has in him. And there he finds his function of restoring his Father’s laws to what was held outside them, finding what was lost.” (1:1-3)
What was lost when we accepted the ego thought system of separation was our Identity as as extension of God’s Love. As we are willing to return to the truth of God’s wholeness, and see this same wholeness in every brother, we see again that we are all still joined in the one Mind of our Creator. We see that we never left God’s Mind in truth. As we join as one rather than separate, we accept God’s laws and we restore God’s laws to the Sonship. Jesus tells us, “So do the parts of God’s Son gradually join in time, and with each joining is the end of time brought nearer. Each miracle of joining is a mighty herald of eternity.” (1:5-6)
Because in reality we are joined as one, we are merely recognizing what already is when we recognize oneness rather than clinging to illusions of separation. Recognizing oneness brings the end of the belief in sin and therefore there is no need to fear what never was real. The ‘miracle of joining’ acknowledges that we all have one united purpose, whether we realize it or not. And that purpose is to extend God’s Love — to extend what we Are. That is how we know that we are God’s Love. And when we know that we are God’s Love, we also know that there is no sin and there is nothing to fear.
Jesus tells us, “Two voices raised together call to the hearts of everyone, to let them beat as one. And in that single heartbeat is the unity of love proclaimed and given welcome. Peace to your holy relationship, which has the power to hold the unity of the Son of God together. You give to your brother for everyone, and in your gift is everyone made glad.” (2:3-6) Because in reality we are one and not many, when we give to any part of the Sonship, we are giving to the whole. Each time we see that we are joined rather than separated, we are giving the gift of inestimable value to everyone. We are doing our part in helping the whole Sonship awaken.
We offer peace when we are willing to accept Holy Spirit’s peace into our minds. Part of receiving peace is receiving Christ’s vision. When we allow Holy Spirit’s peace into our minds, it is helpful to understand that we are also allowing in Holy Spirit’s understanding or healed perception. We are allowing in the miracle, which bears witness to the truth about yourself and your brother. In the section called, The Test of Truth, Jesus tells us that peace and understanding go together and are never found alone. (See T-14.XI on pages 296-300) When we see our brother as he truly is right now, we are receiving our Father’s gift through him. Jesus tells us, “What is in him will shine so brightly in your grateful vision that you will merely love him and be glad. You will not think to judge him, for who would see the face of Christ and yet insist that judgment still has meaning?” (4:4-5) This is how we offer peace to our brothers.
Jesus answers this when he tells us, “Vision or judgment is your choice, but never both of these.” (4:7) When we choose judgment, we are believing in what our body’s eyes are showing us. When we choose vision, we see as the Holy Spirit sees. We recognize the Light and Love of God in our brother rather than the ego’s story of separate bodies with separate minds. Jesus reaffirms this when he says, “The sight that sees the body has no use which serves the purpose of a holy relationship.” (5:4)
What the body’s eyes show us is separation. What the Holy Spirit shows us from a place of peace is the holy instant, which is eternally true. In the holy instant, the sight of Christ is all there is to see. This is our choice every moment and we can tell what we have chosen by what we see. The world we see is just an effect of what we have chosen to believe in. When we change what we want to see, we will see it. This is why choosing peace is so important. When we choose peace, Christ’s vision comes with it. When we choose judgment, which comes from the ego, separate bodies with separate minds is what we will see.
Awareness of the holy instant brings us a touch of Heaven, which is eternal and never changes. It is not affected by the changing winds of time found in this world of time and space. In the holy instant, we see what is forever true now. We see that the Son of God is forever like the Father and can never change into something that is separate, weak and vulnerable. Jesus tells us, “All that [the holy instant] ever held or will ever hold is here right now. The past takes nothing from it, and the future will add no more. Here, then, is everything. Here is the loveliness of your relationship, with means and end in perfect harmony already.” (3-6) When we choose to accept Holy Spirit’s peace, we are choosing to receive awareness of the holy instant and remember that our oneness in the Mind of God is the only truth, now.
When we choose peace, the laws of God return to our tortured minds. When we choose peace, we evaluate our brother correctly, and this becomes a gift to us to help us awaken from this world of separate bodies. In the last section Jesus reminded us, “The ark of peace is entered two by two, yet the beginning of another world goes with them.” (T-20.IV.6:5) This world that is entered is the real world, which remembers the laws of God. Jesus tells us here, “And merely by remembering [the laws of God], the laws that held you prisoner to pain and death must be forgotten. This is no gift your brother’s body offers you. The veil that hides the gift hides him as well. He is the gift, and yet he knows it not. No more do you. And yet, have faith that He Who sees the gift in you and your brother will offer and receive it for you both. And through His vision will you see it, and through His understanding recognize it and love it as your own.” (7:4-10)
Jesus tells us, “Be comforted, and feel the Holy Spirit watching over you in love and perfect confidence in what He sees. He knows the Son of God, and shares his Father’s certainty the universe rests in his gentle hands in safety and in peace.” (8:1-2, italics added.)
How would your life experience change if you spent more time letting yourself feel the comfort the Holy Spirit brings you and letting yourself become aware that the Holy Spirit is watching over you and sees you as the perfect Son of God that you are in eternity? Aren’t you worthy and deserving of letting yourself remember this about yourself now? What are you waiting for?
© 2004-2010, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.
Has this page been helpful to you?
Your contribution in support of this site is greatly appreciated. To make a tax deductible contribution or become a member online, go to http://www.pathwaysoflight.org/polshop/home.php?cat=254.
Or send a check or money order to Pathways of Light, 6 Oak Court, Ormond Beach, FL 32174-2623 (USD only, please) Thank you for your support.