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 A Course in Miracles, Chapter 24, Section IV. (pages 507-508)
In order to keep the idle dream of specialness or false world of separate bodies going, the ego thought system brings thoughts of everyone’s guilt plus our own guilt to our attention. This is why judgment is the ego’s chosen instrument and why, to the ego, judgment and condemnation is salvation. Jesus reveals how the ego thought system works very well here: “Specialness is a lack of trust in anyone except yourself. Faith is invested in yourself alone. Everything else becomes your enemy; feared and attacked, deadly and dangerous, hated and worthy only of destruction.” (1:1-3)
Jesus brings this (our attraction to guilt) to our attention, not to blame us for judging, but to help us see ego’s true motives at work when thoughts of others or our own guilt shows up in our mind. He knows that we do not understand why we judge others and are attracted to see their faults. He wants us to clearly see how being judgmental is the source of all our pain, anger and depression.
He tells us, “When peace is not with you entirely, and when you suffer pain of any kind, you have beheld some sin within your brother, and have rejoiced at what you thought was there. Your specialness seemed safe because of it. And thus you saved what you appointed to be your savior, [the ego] and crucified the one whom God has given you instead [the one Christ Mind]. So are you bound with him [every brother], for you are one. And so is specialness his ‘enemy,’ and yours as well.” (5:2-6)
Jesus answers this when he says, “What could the purpose of the body be but specialness? And it is this [the purpose of specialness] that makes it [the body] frail and helpless in its own defense. It was conceived to make you frail and helpless.” (2:1-3) We do not recognize that believing we are bodies and seeing the body as frail and helpless is simply another ploy in the ego’s defense system to keep the fearful dream of separation from God going.
Jesus goes on to tell us that there is hope in what seems like hopeless insanity. He reminds us that we can change our mind about the purpose of our dreaming. We can change our purpose from seeing guilt to that of seeing only innocence.
In paragraph 3 Jesus calls a change of purpose from hurt (seeing guilt) to healing (seeing innocence) a miracle. (3:9) When we no longer want to see guilt, the ego thought system will fall away and disappear from our minds because it is the focus on projecting guilt that keeps the dream of separation going. The changed perception of seeing innocence that the Holy Spirit brings returns us to the awareness of Reality. “All that is real proclaims his sinlessness. All that is false proclaims his sins as real. If he is sinful, then is your reality not real, but just a dream of specialness that lasts and instant, crumbling into dust.” (4:6-7)
He says in paragraph 3: “What you have given specialness has left you bankrupt and your treasure house barren and empty, with an open door inviting everything that would disturb your peace to enter and destroy.” (3:15) He knows that if we really understood that believing in specialness is not helpful to us and does not really make us happy, we would not join with the thought system of individuality. We would not choose to believe we are separate and unique, with a mind of our own. We would not choose to believe in separate bodies that have private thoughts. We would not choose to make this dream of specialness real.
The good news is that we are not the dream we are dreaming. The dream of individuality is not real. We can change our mind about what we want to see. We can wake up from the dream by stepping back and letting the Holy Spirit show us our brother’s holiness where we once saw guilt. We can experience a mind shift from specialness to sinlessness.
© 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.