Look at the picture [the ego offers], and realize that death [separation from the Life we live in God] is offered you.
That is why the holy instant is so important in the defense of truth. The truth itself needs no defense, but you do need defense against your acceptance of the gift of death. When you who are truth accept an idea so dangerous to truth, you threaten truth with destruction. And your defense must now be undertaken, to keep truth whole. The power of Heaven, the Love of God, the tears of Christ, and the joy of His eternal Spirit are marshalled to defend you from your own attack. For you attack Them, being part of Them, and They must save you, for They love Themselves.
The holy instant is a miniature of Heaven, sent you from Heaven. …the gift can only be accepted through your willingness to focus all your attention on the picture. The holy instant is a miniature of eternity. It is a picture of timelessness, set in a frame of time.… For as the whole thought system of the ego lies in its gifts, so the whole of Heaven lies in this instant, borrowed from eternity and set in time for you. (A Course in Miracles, T-17.IV.9:11;10;11:1,3-4,8. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)
When we believe what the body’s eyes show us in the world, we are valuing the form which hides the only real content — God’s eternal Love. This world of perception is all the ego has to offer as a substitute for Heaven. But it’s all illusions which contain nothing that is real. If we are tempted to value the forms the ego offers, we lose awareness of our eternal unity in Love. Fortunately we are not lost forever in this world of emptiness.
The holy instant is offered by the Holy Spirit to help us remember our eternal Self that has become unknown to us while we value the ego’s substitute illusions. The ego’s illusions are set in time intended to block us from awareness of our true Self in eternal Love. The holy instant is set in time, for that is where we believe we are. But it brings an experience of eternity, our Home, where the strength, peace and joy of Heaven are recognized as real.
We open our mind to the holy instant by pausing to let the peace of God calm our minds and asking for help to see the truth beyond appearances. With this practice we acknowledge that we do not know what true perception is and we are willing to receive the Holy Spirit’s gift of Christ’s vision. Each time we practice this, a false belief is healed and we move closer to accepting that we are God’s Son — Love and nothing else.
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