“The bridge [to the real world] itself is nothing more than a transition in the perspective of reality. On this side, everything you see is grossly distorted and completely out of perspective. What is little and insignificant is magnified, and what is strong and powerful cut down to littleness. In the transition there is a period of confusion, in which a sense of actual disorientation may occur. But fear it not, for it means only that you have been willing to let go your hold on the distorted frame of reference that seemed to hold your world together. This frame of reference is built around the special relationship. Without this illusion there could be no meaning you would still seek here.
“Fear not that you will be abruptly lifted up and hurled into reality. Time is kind, and if you use it on behalf of reality, it will keep gentle pace with you in your transition. The urgency is only in dislodging your mind from its fixed position here. This will not leave you homeless and without a frame of reference. The period of disorientation, which precedes the actual transition, is far shorter than the time it took to fix your mind so firmly on illusions. Delay will hurt you now more than before, only because you realize it is delay, and that escape from pain is really possible. Find hope and comfort, rather than despair, in this: You could not long find even the illusion of love in any special relationship here. For you are no longer wholly insane, and you would soon recognize the guilt of self-betrayal for what it is.”
“Whenever your thoughts wander to a special relationship which still attracts you, enter with [the Holy Spirit] into a holy instant, and there let Him release you. He needs only your willingness to share His perspective to give it to you completely.” (A Course in Miracles, T-16.VI.7-8;12:1-2. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)
When we seek a special relationship, we are betraying our Self. It begins with perceiving ourself as incomplete and seeks to complete this self by seeking to find completion from an external source. It could be called a double betrayal. First we betray our Self by denying the limitless Love we are. We further betray the oneness of our Self by believing in a world of separation. Whenever we follow the ego’s guidance, we are reinforcing this betrayal and increasing the guilt that is betrayal’s companion.
The way out of this vicious cycle is to let the Holy Spirit guide our perceptions. He will patiently lead us to see past the appearances of separation to the oneness of Love that surrounds us and is in us. In the holy instant, we are bridged from the limitation of the ego to the perception of the real world, where illusions are forgiven and we see our brothers as part of the one Self we were created to be. When our forgiveness is complete, we have accepted our one Self and remember our completion in God.
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