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Study of Text: C 15, VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 6. 2-28-18

VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 6
6 In the holy instant nothing happens that has not always been. Only the veil that has been drawn across reality is lifted. Nothing has changed. Yet the awareness of changelessness comes swiftly as the veil of time is pushed aside. No one who has not yet experienced the lifting of the veil, and felt himself drawn irresistibly into the light behind it, can have faith in love without fear. Yet the Holy Spirit gives you this faith, because He offered it to me and I accepted it. Fear not the holy instant will be denied you, for I denied it not. And through me the Holy Spirit gives it unto you, as you will give it. Let no need you perceive obscure your need of this. For in the holy instant you will recognize the only need the Sons of God share equally, and by this recognition you will join with me in offering what is needed.

Journal

Once again, I am so grateful to my Brother for leading the way. It is because he accepted the Atonement that it is mine to accept. The awareness of reality is ours because he lifted the veil first. I think of people who have lifted the veil since then, especially the ones who are living now and are people I can relate to, and it gives me hope.

I want this very much. Jesus says that I can have it. He says it will not be denied me because he did not deny it. He says, “Let no need you perceive obscure your need of this.” I wonder what need I think is so important that I let it obscure the need for the holy instant?  I have a lot of little needs that float in and out of my consciousness, things like losing weight, but I don’t think that is it.

I think these obscuring needs must be grievances and judgments. I checked my bank balance just a few minutes ago and noticed the bank clerk deposited my money into my checking even though I asked her to put it in my savings, and for just a moment I felt annoyed with her. Lesson 21 says that annoyance is nothing but a veil drawn over intense fury. Jeez! That’s crazy.

But it is an example, I think, of the value I place on grievances. It seems that I am resisting the holy instant so that I can be furious at a nice lady for a simple error. I did, however, catch it quickly and I changed my mind just as quickly, so there is that. I would be discouraged with myself except that Jesus reassures me that I will have the holy instant and he also reminds me that it has gone nowhere. It may be obscured, but it has not ceased to exist.

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Study of Text: C 15, VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 5. 2-22-18

VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 5
5 In the world of scarcity, love has no meaning and peace is impossible. For gain and loss are both accepted, and so no one is aware that perfect love is in him. In the holy instant you recognize the idea of love in you, and unite this idea with the Mind that thought it, and could not relinquish it. By holding it within itself, there is no loss. The holy instant thus becomes a lesson in how to hold all of your brothers in your mind, experiencing not loss but completion. From this it follows you can only give. And this is love, for this alone is natural under the laws of God. In the holy instant the laws of God prevail, and only they have meaning. The laws of this world cease to hold any meaning at all. When the Son of God accepts the laws of God as what he gladly wills, it is impossible that he be bound, or limited in any way. In that instant he is as free as God would have him be. For the instant he refuses to be bound, he is not bound.

Journal

This world is a world of scarcity and without love. But we are not of this world and we are not meant to accept this as reality. The only way to be love in this world is to know that you are one with all. Without the idea of separation being true, you know your brother when you meet him. You know who he is and you know that you are one with each other. You know you are meeting yourself in another disguise. If you are one with all there is, how could there be scarcity? You have everything and you are everything and so you give freely without limit or concern.

You are like God in every way and God gives and gives and gives. He gave all of Himself to you in your creation, and your creation is endless. It is happening now and now you are receiving God and this is what sustains you. Because you are like God, it is your deepest desire to give as He gives and when you don’t you suffer. That little ego thought that is scarcity and that still exists in your vast and holy mind cannot be real because it is not part of your creation. There is no place in God for scarcity and so none in you.

Miserly giving does not come from your created mind. It comes from that tiny thought of separation on which you still place your attention. Remember to laugh at that thought and it will fade away into nothingness in an instant. Nothing can bind you to poverty of love except your desire to be a personal self with a will apart from your true will in God. Your memory will return and with it your joy and the peace of God.

Jesus came to remind you that you are abundant and if you listen and accept his gift, that abundance will translate into an abundant world before it disappears. You will dream a happy dream before you awaken from the dream. You will assist him in waking your brothers. How you will laugh when you see past the body and realize it is only your Self you meet. How funny this ego thought will seem to you when you realize there is nothing to take because it is already yours. And how peaceful you will be when there is no one to compete with and nothing to win or lose, and there is just the endless joy of giving.

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Manual for Teachers: 7. SHOULD HEALING BE REPEATED? P 2. 2-18-18

7. SHOULD HEALING BE REPEATED? P 2
2 Whenever a teacher of God has tried to be a channel for healing he has succeeded. Should he be tempted to doubt this, he should not repeat his previous effort. That was already maximal, because the Holy Spirit so accepted it and so used it. Now the teacher of God has only one course to follow. He must use his reason to tell himself that he has given the problem to One Who cannot fail, and must recognize that his own uncertainty is not love but fear, and therefore hate. His position has thus become untenable, for he is offering hate to one to whom he offered love. This is impossible. Having offered love, only love can be received.

Journal

Whenever a teacher of God has tried to be a channel for healing he has succeeded.

This is not a hope or a possibility; this is a fact. When I pray for someone’s healing, I have succeeded. It is done and does not need my continued effort. The Holy Spirit accepted my prayer for healing and so has already used it. Jesus doesn’t say that I don’t need to keep trying; he says that I should not repeat my effort. There must be a reason he would phrase it like this, and there is.

When I feel like I need to keep trying it is because to do so would indicate a lack of faith, my uncertainty would not be love but fear. When I pray for someone’s healing, that is an act of love. When I doubt the healing, that is an act of fear. Then Jesus is very blunt as he says that fear is hate. Yikes! I never want to do that. I offered love and so it impossible that I now offer hate where love has been received.

In the past, I have made this mistake. I would pray for someone and then I would watch for proof that the person was healed. If I did not see signs of healing, I would pray again. I have since learned that the illusion is not a reliable source of information. Sometimes the effects of the healing show up in a way that I can see it, but not always. I have learned to trust the Holy Spirit to complete His function and so now I trust that healing has occurred.

I will use myself as an example. I have asked for healing of certain beliefs that are the root cause of both emotional distress and physical illness. I know that this has been done because I asked. Some of these beliefs are clearly undone in my mind. Some still show up in their effects, but they are undone as well. The physical manifestation is waiting for my acceptance, and that will occur, as I am willing to release the guilt that prevents me from accepting it.

I am part of a prayer ministry through Pathways of Light, and when I accept a prayer request, I agree to pray for the person for 30 days. The way this works for me is that I pray for their healing and then after that when I look at my prayer list, I express my gratitude for their healing. I might think of something else to do, such as to pray that they will feel God’s gentle touch on their hearts and so be comforted, but I do not repeat the original healing as that is done.

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Study of Text: C 15, VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 4. 2-19-18

VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 4
4 You do not find it difficult to believe that when another calls on God for love, your call remains as strong. Nor do you think that when God answers him, your hope of answer is diminished. On the contrary, you are more inclined to regard his success as witness to the possibility of yours. That is because you recognize, however dimly, that God is an idea, and so your faith in Him is strengthened by sharing. What you find difficult to accept is the fact that, like your Father, you are an idea. And like Him, you can give yourself completely, wholly without loss and only with gain. Herein lies peace, for here there is no conflict.

Journal

The idea that we are created in the image of God has always confused mankind because we think that we are these bodies, each one different than the other. We think that we are separate individuals with separate desires and conflicting goals and that we are each a different self. So which of these is God’s image of which we were created?

When we understand that God is not an image of any kind and that He is an idea, then we can begin to understand, at least a little, what God is. And if we are created like God, then we, too, must be an idea. What a strange thought that is to us who have become attached to the idea of form and think we are that. It might be scary even until the mind has become accustomed to the idea.

Ideas seem so insubstantial to us after believing in flesh and blood for so long. And yet, flesh and blood, even in the illusion, dies and decays, whereas, an idea never ceases to exist and, in fact, gets only stronger as it is shared. It is because we are not sharing ourselves as an idea while we identify with the ego, that we feel weak and vulnerable. Thank goodness, that we cannot actually be a body and that we remain a thought in the Mind of our Source.

Cate Grieves suggested a helpful meditation for me to do. She said: You might try to imagine your body floating in the sea or a river. Just allowing it to “be”. Let it float and surrender all control. Then let it float next to leaves on the surface and watch how the water takes your body and moves it in the flow of the water. Just keep releasing any resistance to allowing it to be taken in any direction. Stretch your arms out wide and legs apart and completely give yourself over.

I think this meditation is my practice in total surrender. Because God is an idea and I am an idea in Him, I can give myself completely, wholly without loss and only with gain. After all, that is what He did in our creation. He gave all of Himself to us. I would emulate this unreserved giving and fearlessly and joyfully give all of myself to Him in gratitude for my creation.

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Manual for Teachers: 7. SHOULD HEALING BE REPEATED? P 1. 2-16-18

7. SHOULD HEALING BE REPEATED? P 1
1 This question really answers itself. Healing cannot be repeated. If the patient is healed, what remains to heal him from? And if the healing is certain, as we have already said it is, what is there to repeat? For a teacher of God to remain concerned about the result of healing is to limit the healing. It is now the teacher of God himself whose mind needs to be healed. And it is this he must facilitate. He is now the patient, and he must so regard himself. He has made a mistake, and must be willing to change his mind about it. He lacked the trust that makes for giving truly, and so he has not received the benefit of his gift.

Journal
Oh my, I have fallen prey to this particular error more than once. I have prayed for someone and then returned to worrying about him or her. In the moment of prayer, my faith and trust were strong, and the gift was given, the healing was accomplished. But then I would begin to hear the ego voice warning of discouraging things to come, and pointing to effects that seem to indicate failure, and I would get sucked back into the story and become uncertain.

The result is that the healing was not complete. It was not complete because I did not receive my healing. When we give, we always receive. In returning to doubt and fear, I blocked my own gift. When that happens the only thing to do is to consider myself as patient, and my own mind that requires correction.

In Chapter 8 of the Text, it says this.

Yet you are not asked to dispel your hallucinations alone. You are merely asked to evaluate them in terms of their results to you. If you do not want them on the basis of loss of peace, they will be removed from your mind for you.

My uncertainties and doubts will be removed from my mind, simply because this is my desire. The only reason I sometimes forget this is because I forget who I am. I am not this body/personality ego construct I often identify with; I am the Son of God, and the strength of God is in me and working through me as I decide to use it. So when I truly desire a false thought to be removed from my mind, it must be done.

And why would I ever not want the belief in my littleness removed? Why would I hang onto doubt and fear? Clearly, I think it holds value. The most insane value placed on keeping my ego self intact is that on some level I think that it is protecting me from God. It is an insane desire because I exist in the Mind of God and so how could I be protected from God and why would I need it even if it could be accomplished. This is just the hallucination of a mind driven mad by fear. I do not want these thoughts anymore for they cost me the peace of God.

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Study of Text, C 15: VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 3. 2-15-18

VI. The Holy Instant and the Laws of God, P 3
3 All separation vanishes as holiness is shared. For holiness is power, and by sharing it, it gains in strength. If you seek for satisfaction in gratifying your needs as you perceive them, you must believe that strength comes from another, and what you gain he loses. Someone must always lose if you perceive yourself as weak. Yet there is another interpretation of relationships that transcends the concept of loss of power completely.

Journal
I remember one time when I was a young woman and dating, I had an electrical problem at my house. I jokingly said that maybe I needed to trade my pipefitter boyfriend for an electrician boyfriend. But really, is this a joke? I’ve had three marriages in my life and in every single one of them, I was looking for something from these men that I thought I needed. I felt that I was weak in certain areas and needed something from someone I saw as strong.

I didn’t love myself very much and I wanted them to make me feel like I was loveable. I wanted them to make me feel valuable and special. I wanted security and stability in my life and I thought they could provide it. I wanted someone to keep me company and relieve my boredom, and someone to be there for me when I felt down, someone to take my side, to defend me.

You might wonder what is wrong with this attitude as it is very common, even considered normal. But as Jesus says in this paragraph, “If you seek for satisfaction in gratifying your needs as you perceive them, you must believe that strength comes from another, and what you gain he loses.” If the giving and taking are balanced, the relationship seems to work, but inevitably, the balance shifts back and forth, and someone begins to feel like they are coming out on the losing end and then there is a power struggle.

When relationships are looked at with complete honesty, they begin to look more like bargains than like love, and bargains can be broken when one party or the other feels they are giving too much and not receiving enough in return. If one believes that this neediness is love, then love seems like a pretty iffy proposition.

This is not the powerful unconditional love that Jesus talks about in A Course in Miracles. He is going to explain to us in this section that there is another way to have a relationship, one in which there is sharing rather than taking and holiness is shared and thus strengthened. How lovely to think of a relationship in which nothing is needed from the partner, and everything is shared freely, lovingly and gratefully with no thought of scarcity or loss.

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Manual for Teachers: 6. IS HEALING CERTAIN? P 4. 2-14-18

6. IS HEALING CERTAIN? P 4
4 It is the relinquishing of all concern about the gift that makes it truly given. And it is trust that makes true giving possible. Healing is the change of mind that the Holy Spirit in the patient’s mind is seeking for him. And it is the Holy Spirit in the mind of the giver Who gives the gift to him. How can it be lost? How can it be ineffectual? How can it be wasted? God’s treasure house can never be empty. And if one gift is missing, it would not be full. Yet is its fullness guaranteed by God. What concern, then, can a teacher of God have about what becomes of his gifts? Given by God to God, who in this holy exchange can receive less than everything?

Journal
When someone’s body is sick I know that the only thing that happened is that the mind is confused. In its confusion, it projected its guilty thoughts onto the body. When I pray for them, I am asking the Holy Spirit to heal the mind. Once this is done, the healing is guaranteed because the Holy Spirit never fails at His function.

The only thing left for me to do is to trust. It can be a temptation to worry that I don’t see progress, but that is like a prayer that says please maybe heal this one. That is not a prayer I want to say. The prayer I want to say is one of absolute certainty that the one who is experiencing a sick body is mistaken and that mistake is easily corrected.

When I doubt the Holy Spirit, I ask for correction of my mind that is now the one confused. I have learned to accept that the prayer is always answered and when it is accepted is not my concern. It is really just a matter of faith, faith in my brother, faith in myself and faith in God. That doesn’t mean that ego thoughts will go away. But with practice, I have learned that I don’t have to believe in the ego fears and doubts.

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