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 7,
The Distortion of Miracle Impulses.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 7 of Chapter 1,
Jesus tenderly speaks to us,
Telling us that our distorted perceptions cover our miracle impulses,
Making it hard for them to reach our awareness.
We are reminded that we believe in what we make.
If we believe the fantasies we create in our attempt to control our false needs,
We are in service to our egos.
Yet if we offer miracles to ourselves and others,
This is what we believe,
Which is in service to our true natures as sons of God.
The strength of our conviction in offering miracles sustains the belief of the receiver of the miracle.
When this occurs,
Fantasies become unnecessary.
Both the giver and receiver of the miracle are wholly satisfied as the nature of reality,
The real world,
Becomes apparent.
Jesus reminds us once again that He is our equal and that awe is not an appropriate reaction among equals.
Awe is an appropriate reaction only in the presence of our Creator.
Since awe can produce fear,
A solid foundation is needed to clear any confusion we perceive.
Jesus is here for us as our brother,
Reminding us of who we are and guiding us as we build this foundation.
Although revelation may occasionally be revealed in our awareness during this time,
The foundation is needed to sustain it.
This is the purpose of the atonement.
As we correct our perceptions and offer miracles to ourselves and others,
Vision opens to us.
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 directly introduced to the reader,
It becomes clear that the words are from Jesus,
Often quoting from the Bible.
The Course uses traditional Christian terms in a non-traditional manner.
These words are simply pointers to truth,
Nothing more.
A few definitions of terms you will hear within this reading.
Perception.
What we see inwardly determines what we see outwardly.
Will of God.
This is the expression of God's being.
Through our unity and wholeness with God,
Vision dawns upon us that our will is also God's will.
Vision.
The perception that sees beyond the body to the spirit within us,
Our true identity.
Through vision,
We can see the real world of forgiveness and sinlessness.
It is a shift in attitude from the ego's use of the body to the Holy Spirit's use of the body as a tool to awaken to our true nature.
Ego.
Our belief in the separated or false self,
Made as a substitute for the self that God created.
Spirit.
The nature of our true reality which being of God is changeless and eternal.
Holy Spirit.
This is the communication link between God and us,
Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds.
Christ.
The self that God created by extension of his spirit.
This represents the potential within each of us.
Fantasy.
A distorted form of vision.
An attempt to control reality according to false needs.
Miracle.
The change in mind that shifts our perception,
Transcending the laws of this world to reflect the laws of God.
Through the Holy Spirit,
Our worldly perception of sin,
Guilt and fear is transformed into the reality of love and forgiveness.
The miracle provides the means to heal our own minds and the minds of others.
Real world.
Through total forgiveness,
We are released from our perception of guilt,
Allowing us to see through the vision of Christ,
Which blesses rather than condemns.
Atonement.
The Holy Spirit's plan of correction,
Healing our minds from the earthly world of illusion to God's world of truth.
Revelation.
Direct communication from God to his sons.
It represents the original form of communication present at creation.
Once our minds are healed and we remember our truth,
The Holy Spirit,
Our bridge of communication is no longer needed.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 1.
The Meaning of Miracles.
Section 7.
Distortions of Miracle Impulses.
Your distorted perceptions produce a dense cover over miracle impulses,
Making it hard for them to reach your own awareness.
The confusion of miracle impulses with physical impulses is a major perceptual distortion.
Physical impulses are misdirected miracle impulses.
All real pleasure comes from doing God's will.
This is because not doing it is a denial of self.
Denial of self results in illusions,
While correction of the error brings release from it.
Do not deceive yourself into believing that you can relate in peace to God or to your brothers with anything external.
Child of God,
You were created to create the good,
The beautiful,
And the holy.
Do not forget this.
The love of God,
For a little while,
Must still be expressed through one body to another,
Because vision is still so dim.
You can use your body best to help you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision,
Of which the physical eye is incapable.
Learning to do this is the body's only true usefulness.
Fantasy is a distorted form of vision.
Fantasies of any kind are distortions because they always involve twisting perception into unreality.
Actions that stem from distortions are literally the reactions of those who know not what they do.
Fantasy is an attempt to control reality according to false needs.
Twist reality in any way and you are perceiving destructively.
Fantasies are a means of making false associations and attempting to obtain pleasure from them.
But although you can perceive false associations,
You can never make them real except to yourself.
You believe in what you make.
If you offer miracles,
You will be equally strong in your belief in them.
The strength of your conviction will then sustain the belief of the miracle receiver.
These become totally unnecessary as the wholly satisfying nature of reality becomes apparent to both giver and receiver.
Reality is lost through usurpation,
Which produces tyranny.
As long as a single slave remains to walk the earth,
Your release is not complete.
Complete restoration of the sonship is the only goal of the miracle-minded.
This is a course in mind training.
All learning involves attention and study at some level.
Some of the later parts of the course rest too heavily on these earlier sections not to require their careful attention.
You will also need them for preparation.
Without this,
You may become much too fearful of what is to come to make the constructive use of it.
However,
As you study these earlier sections,
You will begin to see some of the implications that will be amplified later on.
A solid foundation is necessary because of the confusion between fear and awe to which I have already referred and which is often made.
I have said that awe is inappropriate in connection with the sons of God because you should not experience awe in the presence of your equals.
However,
It was also emphasized that awe is proper in the presence of your Creator.
I have been careful to clarify my role in the atonement without either over or understating it.
I am also trying to do the same with yours.
I have stressed that awe is not an appropriate reaction to me because of our inherent equality.
Some of the later steps in this course,
However,
Involve a more direct approach to God Himself.
It would be unwise to start on these steps without careful preparation,
Or awe will be confused with fear,
And the experience will be more traumatic than beatific.
Healing is of God in the end.
The means are being carefully explained to you.
Revelation may occasionally reveal the end to you,
But to reach it the means are needed.
