A Course In Miracles - Chapter 10, Section IV

ACIM is read one section at a time. It is a guidebook leading us back to our true natures, as we open to the awareness of love's presence. All quoted material is from A Course in Miracles, copyright ©1992, 1999, 2007 by the Foundation for Inner Peace, publisher, and the copyright holder. This material is used with permission.

Glossary-Index for a Course In Miracles, 8th edition, Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D.
Music by Bensound.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Teresa Hubbard.

Welcome back to our continued reading of the text,

Two Course in Miracles.

We continue today in Chapter 10,

The Idols of Sickness.

Section 4,

The End of Sickness.

To summarize my takeaways,

In Section 4 of Chapter 10,

We learn that sickness and perfection are irreconcilable.

God created us perfect.

If we believe in sickness,

We have made our own gods,

Putting them before God.

Yet,

God is not at war with our gods.

We are.

God's laws are the laws of freedom,

While our laws are the laws of bondage.

Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable,

Their laws cannot be understood together.

The laws of God work only for our good,

While ours are chaotic.

Yet,

We must know that the gods we made do not bring chaos.

We are endowing them with chaos and accepting it of them.

What we have made is so unworthy of us that we could hardly want it if we were willing to see it as it is.

If we refuse to acknowledge the gods we made,

In whatever form they seem to appear to us,

And wherever we think we see them,

They will disappear into the nothingness out of which we made them.

The miracle is the act of a son of God who has laid aside all the false gods he made and calls on his brothers to do the same.

This is an act of faith because it is the recognition that our brothers can do it.

These miracle workers have heard God's voice,

Strengthening it in a sick brother by weakening his belief in sickness which we do not share.

The power of one mind can shine into another because all of the lamps of God were lit by the same spark.

This spark is everywhere and it is eternal.

Perceiving the spark will heal,

But this little light must first be acknowledged.

This spark is as pure as the great rays because it is the call of creation.

When we put our faith in it,

God himself will answer 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 introduced directly 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 terms you will hear within this reading.

Sickness,

A condition of the mind that believes in separation.

Although physical medicine can be appropriate to use,

The true remedy for sickness is the miracle.

The miracle heals all sickness,

Regardless of form,

Proving that sickness is an illusion.

This definition was extracted in part from Glossary of Terms from A Course in Miracles,

Written by Robert Perry.

This useful tool can be found at CircleofA.

Org under the tab Resources.

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.

Magic,

The attempt to solve a problem where there is none.

Trying to solve a problem in the mind through physical or mindless measures.

God,

The Creator,

The source of all being or life.

God's essence is spirit,

Which is shared with all creation.

Yet the word God can be limiting,

Since universal energy and life are infinitely vast and cannot be contained in a word.

Reality,

Pure spirit,

Which is changeless,

Eternal,

Formless,

And boundless.

Reality is also referred to in the Course as heaven or the kingdom of God.

Great rays,

The extension of the light of God.

Our true reality is Christ.

The great rays are of the Spirit and have nothing to do with the body at all.

And now,

On to the reading.

A Course in Miracles,

Chapter 10,

The Idols of Sickness,

Section 4,

The End of Sickness.

All magic is an attempt at reconciling the irreconcilable.

All religion is the recognition that the irreconcilable cannot be reconciled.

Sickness and perfection are irreconcilable.

If God created you perfect,

You are perfect.

If you believe you can be sick,

You have placed other gods before him.

God is not at war with the God of sickness you made,

But you are.

The God of sickness is the symbol of deciding against God,

And you are afraid of him because he cannot be reconciled with God's will.

If you attack the God of sickness,

You will make him real to you.

But if you refuse to worship him in whatever form he may appear to you,

And wherever you think you see him,

He will disappear into the nothingness out of which he was made.

Reality can dawn only on an unclouded mind.

It is always there to be accepted,

But its acceptance depends on your willingness to have it.

To know reality must involve the willingness to judge unreality for what it is.

To overlook nothingness is merely to judge it correctly,

And because of your ability to evaluate it truly,

To let it go.

Knowledge cannot dawn on a mind full of illusions,

Because truth and illusions are irreconcilable.

Truth is whole,

And cannot be known by part of a mind.

The sonship cannot be perceived as partly sick,

Because to perceive it that way is not to perceive it at all.

If the sonship is one,

It is one in all respects.

Oneness cannot be divided.

If you perceive other gods,

Your mind is split,

And you will not be able to limit the split,

Because it is the sign that you have removed part of your mind from God's will.

This means it is out of control.

To be out of control is to be out of reason,

And then the mind does become unreasonable.

By defining the mind wrongly,

You perceive it as functioning wrongly.

God's laws will keep your mind at peace,

Because peace is his will,

And his laws are established to uphold it.

His are the laws of freedom,

But yours are the laws of bondage.

Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable,

Their laws cannot be understood together.

The laws of God work only for your good,

And there are no other laws beside his.

Everything else is merely lawless,

And therefore chaotic.

Yet God himself has protected everything he created by his laws.

Everything that is not under them does not exist.

Quote,

Laws of chaos,

End quote,

Is a meaningless term.

Creation is perfectly lawful,

And the chaotic is without meaning,

Because it is without God.

You have quote,

Given,

End quote,

Your peace to the gods you made,

But they are not there to take it from you,

And you cannot give it to them.

You are not free to give up freedom,

But only to deny it.

You cannot do what God did not intend,

Because what he did not intend does not happen.

Your gods do not bring chaos.

You are endowing them with chaos,

And accepting it of them.

All this has never been.

Nothing but the laws of God has ever been,

And nothing but his will will ever be.

You were created through his laws and by his will,

And the manner of your creation established you a creator.

What you have made is so unworthy of you,

That you could hardly want it,

If you were willing to see it as it is.

You will see nothing at all,

And your vision will automatically look beyond it,

To what is in you,

And all around you.

Reality cannot break through the obstructions you interpose,

But it will envelop you completely when you let them go.

When you have experienced the protection of God,

The making of idols becomes inconceivable.

There are no strange images in the mind of God,

And what is not in his mind cannot be in yours,

Because you are of one mind,

And that mind belongs to him.

It is yours because it belongs to him,

For to him ownership is sharing,

And if it is so for him,

It is so for you.

His definitions are his laws,

For by them he established the universe as what it is.

No false gods you attempt to interpose between yourself and your reality affect truth at all.

Peace is yours,

Because God created you,

And he created nothing else.

The miracle is the act of a son of God,

Who has laid aside all false gods,

And calls on his brothers to do likewise.

It is an act of faith,

Because it is the recognition that his brother can do it.

It is a call to the Holy Spirit in his mind,

A call that is strengthened by joining.

Because the miracle worker has heard God's voice,

He strengthens it in his sick brother by weakening his belief in sickness,

Which he does not share.

The power of one mind can shine into another,

Because all the lamps of God were lit by the same spark.

It is everywhere,

And it is eternal.

In many,

Only the spark remains,

For the great rays are obscured.

Yet God has kept the spark alive,

So that the rays can never be completely forgotten.

If you but see the little spark,

You will learn of the greater light,

For the rays are there unseen.

Perceiving the spark will heal,

But knowing the light will create.

Yet in the returning the little light must be acknowledged first,

For the separation was a descent from magnitude to fullness.

But the spark is still as pure as the great light,

Because it is the remaining call of creation.

Put all your faith in it,

And God himself will answer you.