A Course In Miracles - Chapter 11, Section III
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 to A Course in Miracles.
We continue today in Chapter 11,
God or the Ego,
Section 3,
From Darkness to Light.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 3 of Chapter 11,
We continue building upon our understanding of what we learned in the last section,
That the Holy Spirit is our Comforter,
Whose message is wholeness.
Our Comforter is always with us,
Yet cannot help us without our invitation.
We are reminded here that we are indeed in need of comfort,
For we know not what we do.
Believing our will is not our own,
We wander homeless,
Even though the kingdom of God is ours.
At home in God we are lonely,
And amid all of our brothers we are friendless.
Yet this is not real.
How could it be when God did not will to be alone himself?
Since our will is God's,
It cannot be true of us,
Because it is not true of God.
Jesus our brother reminds us here,
That when we finally proclaim for ourselves and believe,
God's will is mine,
We will see such beauty that we will know it is not of us,
But of God expressing through us and as us.
For the great light always surrounds us and shines out from us.
Then the bleak little world we saw before will vanish into nothingness,
And our heart will be so filled with joy that it will leap into the presence of God.
We must turn towards this light,
For the little spark within us is part of a light so great that it can sweep us out of all darkness forever.
But we must remember that our brothers also hold the spark.
We cannot understand wholeness,
The message our Comforter offers us,
Unless we are whole.
And no part of the sonship can be excluded if we would know the wholeness of our Father.
God blessed his son forever,
And when we bless our brothers in time,
We are transported to the eternal.
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.
The two teachers,
Ego and Holy Spirit.
The Ego is our belief in the separated or false self that we made as a substitute for the self that God created.
Holy Spirit is the communication link between God and us,
Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds.
The voice for God.
Temple and Altar Temple is the dwelling place of God,
Within which abides the altar.
The words Temple and Altar do not point to external structures.
Instead they represent our attitude,
The part of our mind that chooses the world of God,
Truth,
Or chooses instead the earthly world,
Illusion.
Whichever attitude we choose is the offering we place upon the altar.
The altar that rests within our minds.
The holy dwelling place of God.
Will of God,
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.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 11.
God or the Ego.
Section 3.
From Darkness to Light.
When you are weary,
Remember you have hurt yourself.
Your comforter will rest you,
But you cannot.
You do not know how,
For if you did,
You could never have grown weary.
Unless you hurt yourself,
You could never suffer in any way,
For that is not God's will for His Son.
Pain is not of God,
For He knows no attack,
And His peace surrounds you silently.
God is very quiet,
For there is no conflict in Him.
Conflict is the root of all evil,
For being blind,
It does not see whom it attacks.
Yet it always attacks the Son of God,
And the Son of God is you.
God's Son is indeed in need of comfort,
For He knows not what He does.
Believing His will is not His own.
The kingdom is His,
And yet He wanders homeless.
At home in God,
He is lonely.
And amid all His brothers,
He is friendless.
Would God let this be real?
When He did not will to be alone Himself?
And if your will is His,
It cannot be true of you,
Because it is not true of Him.
O my child,
If you knew what God wills for you,
Your joy would be complete.
And what He wills has happened,
For it was always true.
When the light comes,
And you have said,
God's will is mine,
You will see such beauty that you will know it is not of you.
Out of your joy you will create beauty in His name.
For your joy could be no more contained than His.
The bleak little world will vanish into nothingness,
And your heart will be so filled with joy that it will leap into heaven and into the presence of God.
I cannot tell you what this will be like,
For your heart is not yet ready.
Yet I can tell you,
And remind you often,
That what God wills for Himself,
He wills for you,
And what He wills for you is yours.
The way is not hard,
But it is very different.
Yours is the way of pain,
Of which God knows nothing.
That way is hard indeed,
And very lonely.
Fear and grief are your guests,
And they go with you and abide with you on the way.
But the dark journey is not the way of God's Son.
Walk in light and do not see the dark companions,
For they are not fit companions for the Son of God,
Who was created of light and in light.
The great light always surrounds you and shines out from you.
How can you see the dark companions in a light such as this?
If you see them,
It is only because you are denying the light.
But deny them instead,
For the light is here and the way is clear.
God hides nothing from His Son,
Even though His Son would hide Himself.
Yet the Son of God cannot hide His glory,
For God wills Him to be glorious and gave Him the light that shines in Him.
You will never lose your way,
For God leads you.
When you wander,
You but undertake a journey that is not real.
The dark companions,
The dark way,
Are all illusions.
Turn toward the light,
For the little spark in you is part of a light so great that it can sweep you out of all darkness forever.
For your Father is your Creator,
And you are like Him.
The children of light cannot abide in darkness,
For darkness is not in them.
Do not be deceived by the dark comforters,
And never let them enter the mind of God's Son,
For they have no place in His temple.
When you are tempted to deny Him,
Remember there are no other gods to place before Him,
And accept His will for you in peace,
For you cannot accept it otherwise.
Only God's Comforter can comfort you.
In the quiet of His temple,
He waits to give you the peace that is yours.
Give His peace,
That you may enter the temple and find it waiting for you.
But be holy in the presence of God,
Or you will not know that you are there.
For what is unlike God cannot enter His mind,
Because it was not His thought,
And therefore does not belong to Him.
And your mind must be as pure as His,
If you would know what belongs to you.
Guard carefully His temple,
For He Himself dwells there and abides in peace.
You cannot enter God's presence with the dark companions beside you,
But you also cannot enter alone.
All your brothers must enter with you,
For until you have accepted them,
You cannot enter.
For you cannot understand wholeness unless you are whole,
And no part of the Son can be excluded if He would know the wholeness of His Father.
In your mind you can accept the whole Sonship,
And bless it with the light your Father gave it.
Then you will be worthy to dwell in the temple with Him,
Because it is your will not to be alone.
God blessed His Son forever.
If you will bless Him in time,
You will be in eternity.
Time cannot separate you from God if you use it on behalf of the Eternal.
