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Study of Manual for Teachers 1/5/12

Day 5

Chapter 1. WHO ARE GOD’S TEACHERS?

1 A teacher of God is anyone who chooses to be one. His qualifications consist solely in this; somehow, somewhere he has made a deliberate choice in which he did not see his interests as apart from someone else’s. Once he has done that, his road is established and his direction is sure. A light has entered the darkness. It may be a single light, but that is enough. He has entered an agreement with God even if he does not yet believe in Him. He has become a bringer of salvation. He has become a teacher of God.

A couple of things jump out at me in this paragraph. Anyone can be a teacher of God; all he has to do is to recognize that his interests are not apart from someone else’s. I notice that this does not say that I need special training. The requirement is extraordinarily simple. I just need to realize my interests are not separate from someone else. I don’t have to recognize my interests are not separate from everyone else, just someone else. I don’t even seem to need to hold this recognition forever to call myself a teacher of God. That I did it at all, establishes my direction.

I am reminded, of course, of the circumstances that began the process that would lead to the recording of A Course in Miracles. Helen and Bill had a very contentious relationship. One day Helen, probably in frustration, said, “there must be a better way,” and Bill said that he would help her find it. In that moment they did not see their interests as separate. And look what came from that! They truly became teachers of God.

Everything we read about their lives and their relationship from that point on indicates that you do not have to be a perfect teacher of God. In fact, the introduction of the Manual for Teachers assures us we are not perfect or we wouldn’t be here. I would be willing to bet that Helen and Bill did not, in that one dramatic moment, experience a permanent change in their relationship. That change probably came over a period of time.

Its very likely they didn’t think of those words as dramatic. It was probably only in retrospect that they recognized the significance of them. Do you remember the moment that you made a different decision, one that put you on the path? I don’t. I am very aware of the circumstances that led up to my study of the Course, and I’m aware of the thought that propelled me into the Pathways of Light ministerial courses and so began my more formal teaching path. But those are not the moment when I saw my interests as the same as someone else.  And that is the moment I became a teacher of God.

In fact, Jesus seems to be saying that we can be totally clueless about our agreement, and that doesn’t lessen the impact. I don’t even have to believe in God to be His teacher. Once again I recognize that “Myron” is just my representative of sort, my avatar for the experience in this dream story. She doesn’t have a clue, really. She has these light bulb moments, but really she doesn’t know what anything is for. She didn’t even “get it” when she became a teacher of God. This is a good indication that she should do her best to get out of the way and allow God to live through her, a process she seems to one moment embrace, and another to resist.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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