Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. ²It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false. ³Every illusion is one of fear, whatever form it takes. ⁴And the attempt to escape from one illusion into another must fail. ⁵If you seek love outside yourself you can be certain that you perceive hatred within, and are afraid of it. ⁶Yet peace will never come from the illusion of love, but only from its reality.
Recognize this, for it is true, and truth must be recognized if it is to be distinguished from illusion: The special love relationship is an attempt to bring love into separation. ²And, as such, it is nothing more than an attempt to bring love into fear, and make it real in fear.
The bridge that leads to union in yourself must lead to knowledge, for it was built with God beside you, and will lead you straight to Him where your completion rests, wholly compatible with His. ²Every illusion you accept into your mind by judging it to be attainable removes your own sense of completion, and thus denies the Wholeness of your Father. ³Every fantasy, be it of love or hate, deprives you of knowledge for fantasies are the veil behind which truth is hidden. ⁴To lift the veil that seems so dark and heavy, it is only needful to value truth beyond all fantasy, and to be entirely unwilling to settle for illusion in place of truth. (A Course in Miracles, T-16.IV.6:1–7:2;10:1-4. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)
In dreams, lies can seem to be true; fantasies can seem real. This world we seem to live in is a dream. It keeps us in its grip by our wish for specialness, which could only seem to be achieved if we are separate identities.
The special relationships we seek in this dream offer a substitute for the real Love that is our nature and our Source. Because we accept this substitute, it stands as a barrier that prevents us from awakening to the Love that unites us with with our Creator and every brother.
To help us awaken from this fearful dream, we have a Guide Whose function is to provide a bridge that leads to our awakening. The practice of asking for His true perception to replace our perceptions in the world will set us free.
True perception recognizes illusions for what they are and overlooks them. It sees our unity with the Love that is in every brother. With Holy Spirit’s vision, our misperceptions are healed. We can make this choice in every moment. We dedicate this day to making this choice, moment by moment.
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