Hi,
I'm Teresa Hubbard.
Welcome back to our continued reading of the text,
To A Course in Miracles.
We begin today with the introduction to Chapter 11,
God or the Ego.
To summarize my takeaways,
In the introduction to Chapter 11,
We learn that neither God nor the Ego proposes a partial thought system.
Each is internally consistent,
But both are diametrically opposed in all respects,
So that partial allegiance is impossible.
We are again reminded that the authority problem is still the only source of conflict,
Because the Ego was made out of the wish of God's Son to create His own Father.
We were first introduced to the term authority problem back in Section 6 of Chapter 3.
There we learned that we are creations of God.
God is the true author of His creations,
Meaning He is the author of us.
When we refuse to accept God's authorship,
Our inheritance as children of God,
We deny ourselves peace and the power to create in the likeness of our Creator.
Yet,
Jesus lovingly reminds us here of the great rays that are unseen.
Even the little spark in our minds is enough to lighten it.
We are told to bring this light fearlessly with us and bravely hold it up to the Ego's thought system.
There we will see that it rests on meaninglessness,
And that everything we have been afraid of was based on nothing.
Jesus further reminds us that we are of God and that He is here to offer us everything again.
He promises we will not take this journey alone.
He offers us the lamp,
Leading us back to our true Father.
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.
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.
Ego,
Our belief in the separated and false self that we made as a substitute for the self that God created.
Great Rays,
The extension of the light of God,
Our true reality as 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 11,
God or the Ego.
Introduction.
Either God or the Ego is insane.
If you will examine the evidence on both sides fairly,
You will realize this must be true.
Neither God nor the Ego proposes a partial thought system.
Each is internally consistent,
But they are diametrically opposed in all respects,
So that partial allegiance is impossible.
Remember too that their results are as different as their foundations,
And their fundamentally irreconcilable natures cannot be reconciled by vacillations between them.
Nothing alive is fatherless,
For life is creation.
Therefore,
Your decision is always an answer to the question,
Who is my father?
And you will be faithful to the father you choose.
Yet what would you say to someone who believed this question really involves conflict?
If you made the decision to be faithful to your father,
You would be faithful to your father.
But if you made the Ego,
How can the Ego have made you?
The authority problem is still the only source of conflict,
Because the Ego was made out of the wish of God's Son to father him.
The Ego then is nothing more than a delusional system in which you made your own father.
Make no mistake about this.
It sounds insane when it is stated that God never looks on what it does with perfect honesty.
Yet this is its insane premise,
Which is carefully hidden in the dark cornerstone of its thought system.
And either the Ego,
Which you made,
Is your father,
Or its whole thought system will not stand.
You make by projection,
But God creates by extension.
The cornerstone of God's creation is you,
And God's thought system is light.
Remember,
The rays that are there are unseen.
The more you approach the center of his thought system,
The clearer the light becomes.
The closer you come to the foundation of the Ego's thought system,
The darker and more obscure becomes the way.
Yet even the little spark in your mind is enough to lighten it.
Bring this light fearlessly with you,
And bravely hold it up to the foundation of the Ego's thought system.
Be willing to judge it with perfect honesty.
Open the dark cornerstone of terror on which it rests,
And bring it out into the light.
There,
You will see that it rested on meaninglessness,
And that everything of which you have been afraid was based on nothing.
My brother,
You are part of God and part of me.
When you have at last looked at the Ego's foundation without shrinking,
You will also have looked upon ours.
I come to you from our Father,
To offer you everything again.
Do not refuse it in order to keep a dark cornerstone hidden,
For its protection will not save you.
I give you the lamp,
And I will go with you.
You will not take this journey alone.
I will lead you to your true Father,
Who hath need of you,
As I have.
Will you not answer the call of love with joy?
