Hi,
I'm Teresa Hubbard.
Welcome back to our continued reading of the text to A Course in Miracles.
We continue today in Chapter 1,
The Meaning of Miracles,
Section 2,
Revelation,
Time,
And Miracles.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 2 of Chapter 1,
Jesus describes his relationship to us as an elder brother.
He tells us there is nothing he has attained that we can't,
As everything comes from God.
He explains that he bridges the distance between God and us as an elder brother on the one hand and a child of God on the other.
We learn that revelation unites us with God,
While miracles unite us with our brothers.
We are told that revelation is an intensely personal experience and cannot be meaningfully translated because it is an experience of unspeakable love.
The word awe is appropriate for revelation because it implies worship by the created towards its creator,
Whereas miracles are a sign of love among equals.
Working miracles is important in this phase of our learning because freedom from fear cannot be forced upon us.
Through the miracle,
We recognize perfect equality between the giver and the receiver.
Through a miracle,
Time is collapsed from a horizontal to a vertical perception,
And as such,
The miracle accomplishes learning that otherwise may have taken thousands of years.
There is no relationship between the time a miracle takes and the time it covers.
I invite you to keep a few things in mind as you listen to the reading.
The course uses male pronouns,
Yet this is simply a way of pointing to the spiritual being having no gender.
The course is written in first person,
And although not introduced directly to the reader,
It becomes clear that the words are from Jesus,
Often quoting from the Bible,
So when you hear quotations within the reading,
That is what is implied.
The words used are simply pointers to the truth,
Nothing more.
A few definitions of terms you will hear within the reading are revelation.
This refers to direct communication from God to us.
It represents the original form of communication present at creation.
Once our minds are healed and we remember our truth,
The Holy Spirit is no longer needed.
Holy Spirit,
The communication link between God and us,
Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds.
Through this bridge,
Our worldly perception of sin,
Guilt,
And fear is transformed into the reality of love and forgiveness.
Christ,
The self that God created by extension of his spirit.
It represents the potential within each of us.
Miracle,
The change in mind that shifts our perception,
Transcending the laws of this world to reflect the laws of God.
The miracle provides the means to heal our own minds and the minds of others.
Sonship,
All of us,
The creations of God.
And so now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles,
Chapter 1,
The Meaning of Miracles,
Section 2,
Revelation,
Time,
And Miracles.
Revelation induces complete but temporary suspension of doubt and fear.
It reflects the original form of communication between God and his creations,
Involving the extremely personal sense of creation sometimes sought in physical relationships.
Physical closeness cannot achieve it.
Miracles,
However,
Are genuinely interpersonal and result in true closeness to others.
Revelation unites you directly with God.
Miracles unite you directly with your brother.
Neither emanates from consciousness,
But both are experienced there.
Consciousness is the state that induces action,
Though it does not inspire it.
You are free to believe what you choose,
And what you do attests to what you believe.
Revelation is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully translated.
That is why any attempt to describe it in words is impossible.
Revelation induces only experience.
Miracles on the other hand,
Induce action.
They are more useful now because of their interpersonal nature.
In this phase of learning,
Working miracles is important because freedom from fear cannot be thrust upon you.
Revelation is literally unspeakable because it is an experience of unspeakable love.
Awe should be reserved for revelation,
To which it is perfectly and correctly applicable.
It is not appropriate for miracles because a state of awe is worshipful,
Implying that one of a lesser order stands before his creator.
You are a perfect creation and should experience awe only in the presence of the creator of perfection.
The miracle therefore is a sign of love among equals.
Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality.
It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me.
An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience and obedience for his greater wisdom.
He is also entitled to love because he is a brother and to devotion if he is devoted.
It is only my devotion that entitles me to yours.
There is nothing about me that you cannot attain.
I have nothing that does not come from God.
The difference between us now is that I have nothing else.
This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.
No man cometh unto the Father but by me,
Does not mean that I am in any way separate or different from you except in time,
And time does not really exist.
The statement is more meaningful in terms of a vertical rather than a horizontal axis.
You stand below me and I stand below God.
In the process of rising up,
I am higher because without me the distance between God and me and man would be too great for you to encompass.
I bridge the distance as an elder brother to you on the one hand and as a son of God on the other.
My devotion to my brothers has placed me in charge of the sonship which I render complete because I share it.
This may appear to contradict the statement,
Quote,
I and my father are one,
End quote,
But there are two parts to the statement in recognition that the Father is greater.
Revelations are indirectly inspired by me because I am close to the Holy Spirit and alert to the revelation readiness of my brothers.
I can thus bring down to them more than they can draw down to themselves.
The Holy Spirit mediates higher to lower communication,
Keeping the direct channel from God to you open for revelation.
Revelation is not reciprocal.
It proceeds from God to you but not from you to God.
The miracle minimizes the need for time.
In the longitudinal or horizontal plane,
The recognition of the equality of the members of the sonship appears to involve almost endless time.
However,
The miracle entails a sudden shift from horizontal to vertical perception.
This introduces an interval from which the giver and receiver both emerge farther along in time than they would otherwise have been.
The miracle thus has the unique property of abolishing time to the extent that it renders the interval of time it spans unnecessary.
There is no relationship between the time a miracle takes and the time it covers.
The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years.
It does so by the underlying recognition of perfect equality of giver and receiver on which the miracle rests.
The miracle shortens time by collapsing it,
Thus eliminating certain intervals within it.
It does this,
However,
Within the larger temporal sequence.
