Day 98
10 There is no substitute for the Will of God. In simple statement, it is to this fact that the teacher of God devotes his day. Each substitute he may accept as real can but deceive him. But he is safe from all deception if he so decides. Perhaps he needs to remember, “God is with me. I cannot be deceived.” Perhaps he prefers other words, or only one, or none at all. Yet each temptation to accept magic as true must be abandoned through his recognition, not that it is fearful, not that it is sinful, not that it is dangerous, but merely that it is meaningless. Rooted in sacrifice and separation, two aspects of one error and no more, he merely chooses to give up all that he never had. And for this “sacrifice” is Heaven restored to his awareness.
What really stands out to me in this paragraph is the sentence that says: Yet each temptation to accept magic as true must be abandoned through his recognition, not that it is fearful, not that it is sinful, not that it is dangerous, but merely that it is meaningless.
When I look back on my life I see that I have always felt guilty for one thing or another, even beginning when I was a very young child. When I began to study the Course, I learned that guilt is never helpful and I started watching my mind for guilty thoughts and asking the Holy Spirit to help me see differently. But guilt has a deep root in my mind and I noticed that I felt guilty for having those thoughts, and guilty that the same thoughts would appear over and over again.
I seemed never to get to the end of it. It felt very circular as I tried to relinquish guilt and then felt guilty for my apparent failures. When I did the lessons with the Holy Spirit’s help, many of His messages to me were directed at this guilt. He helped me to relax into the study and the processes. He reminded me often that I was innocent.
I read a very helpful passage in The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament. It says: The choice you make will seem to be made many times in complete sincerity and truth of heart. And then you will seem to slip and forget the choice you have made. Do not let this distress you. Simply make the choice again. That really helped me to let go of the concerns I had about my seeming failures.
Jesus has been trying to tell me all along that my substitute for truth is without effects and that it is simply meaningless. The ego will insist I have reason to be afraid and that I have reason to be guilty but this is wrong. There is only one thing I need to do, and that is to accept that I have been mistaken and that my mistake has not changed anything.
I spent a long time learning to recognize my mistaken beliefs, and learning that they have no value so I can let them go. Now I am learning that their effects are not real effects. Jesus talks about possibly having a phrase to say when needed that will help anchor me to the truth. The one I often use is, “I will disregard these appearances.”
I will not be afraid of them, or feel guilty for them, or try to change them. They are not important enough to warrant that kind of attention. I will simply disregard them because they are meaningless. The only value they have for me is that they point to a belief that is not true and that I will release.
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