There is a borderland of thought that stands between this world and Heaven. ²It is not a place, and when you reach it is apart from time. ³Here is the meeting place where thoughts are brought together; where conflicting values meet and all illusions are laid down beside the truth, where they are judged to be untrue. ⁴This borderland is just beyond the gate of Heaven. ⁵Here is every thought made pure and wholly simple. ⁶Here is sin denied, and everything that is received instead.
This is the journey’s end. ²We have referred to it as the real world. …⁵[Knowledge and perception] are brought together, and only one continues past the gate where oneness is. ⁶Salvation is a borderland where place and time and choice have meaning still, and yet it can be seen that they are temporary, out of place, and every choice has been already made.
Salvation stops just short of Heaven, for only perception needs salvation. ²Heaven was never lost, and so cannot be saved. ³Yet who can make a choice between the wish for Heaven and the wish for hell unless he recognizes they are not the same? ⁴This difference is the learning goal this course has set. (A Course in Miracles, T-26.III.2;3:1-2,5-6;5:1-4. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)
When we choose to identify with the ego—believe we are a body—we are really choosing hell. The ego has cleverly disguised it as an appealing place where we can get what we want. We can be special, unique and have things nobody else has.
These things seem to make us happy. But if we are honest with ourselves, we realize that obtaining anything the ego offers never brings lasting happiness. That is why the world is a depressing place. This is a loveless world and lack of Love is depressing. Eventually we all reach a point where we realize this world is not what we really want.
This turning point makes us willing to reconsider our values. Now we are open to the Holy Spirit’s loving guidance that will teach us how to distinguish reality from illusion. We are open to the real world where we can learn how to bring our illusions to the truth where their nothingness is recognized.
Our journey now has a new purpose—to learn to differentiate between illusions and reality. This purpose leads us to the real world where we realize we only need to choose the truth. We need only to accept the oneness of Love as our Reality. This is the choice for Heaven.
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