A Course In Miracles - Chapter 12, Section II
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 12,
The Holy Spirit's Curriculum.
Section 2,
The Way to Remember God.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 2 of Chapter 12,
We are reminded that miracles are merely the translation of denial into truth,
And that the task of the miracle worker is to deny the denial of truth.
We learn here that to love ourselves is to heal ourselves.
Whenever we are sick,
We are denying the truth about ourselves.
And sickness is not just physical,
But suffering in all its many forms.
When we know the truth about ourselves,
We cannot be sick.
The light in us shines brightly,
Regardless of the density of the fog that obscures our light.
If we give no power to the fog,
It has none,
For it has power only if we give power to it.
We must then withdraw the power to obscure our own light,
Remembering that all power is of God.
Further,
We must not allow our brothers to forget this truth.
For our remembering is theirs.
This is what we have forgotten.
To perceive the healing of a brother as the healing of ourself is the way to remember God.
When we overcome fear,
Not by hiding it,
Not by minimizing it,
And not by denying it in any way,
We will find truth.
We are therefore embarking here on an organized,
Well-structured,
And carefully planned program aimed at learning how to offer to the Holy Spirit everything we do not want.
Whatever we give to the Holy Spirit that is not of God is gone.
Yet we must look at it ourself in perfect willingness,
For otherwise the Holy Spirit's knowledge remains useless 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 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.
Holy Spirit.
The communication link between God and us.
Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds.
The voice for God.
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.
Crucifixion.
The symbol of the ego's attack on God,
And therefore on his son.
Witnessing for us the belief in suffering,
Sacrifice,
Victimization,
And death.
The true meaning of the crucifixion is that our true identity,
Of love,
Can never be destroyed,
Because death has no power over life.
Resurrection.
The total change in mind that transcends the ego and its perceptions,
Allowing us to identify completely with our true self.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 12.
The Holy Spirit's Curriculum.
Section 2.
The Way to Remember God.
Miracles are merely the translation of denial into truth.
If to love oneself is to heal oneself,
Those who are sick do not love themselves.
Therefore they are asking for the love that would heal them,
But which they are denying to themselves.
If they knew the truth about themselves,
They could not be sick.
The task of the miracle worker thus becomes to deny the denial of truth.
The sick must heal themselves,
For the truth is in them.
Yet having obscured it,
The light in another mind must shine into theirs,
Because that light is theirs.
The light in them shines as brightly regardless of the density of the fog that obscures it.
If you give no power to the fog to obscure the light,
It has none.
For it has power only if the Son of God gives power to it.
He must himself withdraw that power,
Remembering that all power is of God.
You can remember this for all the sonship.
Do not allow your brother not to remember,
For his forgetfulness is yours,
But your remembering is his,
For God cannot be remembered alone.
This is what you have forgotten.
To perceive the healing of your brother as the healing of yourself is thus the way to remember God.
For you forgot your brothers with him,
And God's answer to your forgetting is but the way to remember.
Perceive in sickness but another call for love,
And offer your brother what he believes he cannot offer himself.
Whatever the sickness,
There is but one remedy.
You will be made whole as you make whole,
For to perceive in sickness the appeal for health is to recognize in hatred the call for love.
And to give a brother what he really wants is to offer it unto yourself,
For your father wills you to know your brother as yourself.
Answer his call for love,
And yours is answered.
Healing is the love of Christ for his father and for himself.
Remember what was said about the frightening perceptions of little children,
Which terrify them because they do not understand them.
If they ask for enlightenment and accept it,
Their fears vanish.
But if they hide their nightmares,
They will keep them.
It is easy to help an uncertain child,
For he recognizes that he does not understand what his perceptions mean.
Yet you believe that you do understand yours.
Little child,
You are hiding your head under the cover of the heavy blankets you have laid upon yourself.
You are hiding your nightmares in the darkness of your own false certainty,
And refusing to open your eyes and look at them.
Let us not save nightmares,
For they are not fitting offerings for Christ,
And so they are not fit gifts for you.
Take off the covers and look at what you are afraid of.
Only the anticipation will frighten you,
For the reality of nothingness cannot be frightening.
Let us not delay this,
For your dream of hatred will not leave you without help,
And help is here.
Learn to be quiet in the midst of turmoil,
For quietness is the end of strife,
And this is the journey to peace.
Look straight at every image that rises to delay you,
For the goal is inevitable,
Because it is eternal.
The goal of love is but your right,
And it belongs to you despite your dreams.
You still want what God wills,
And no nightmare can defeat a child of God and His purpose.
For your purpose was given you by God,
And you must accomplish it,
Because it is His will.
Remember your purpose,
For it is your will to do so.
What has been accomplished for you must be yours.
Do not let your hatred stand in the way of love,
For nothing can withstand the love of Christ for His Father,
Or His Father's love for Him.
A little while and you will see me,
For I am not hidden because you are hiding.
I will awaken you as surely as I awaken myself,
For I awoke for you.
In my resurrection is your release.
Our mission is to escape from crucifixion,
Not from redemption.
Trust in my help,
For I did not walk alone,
And I will walk with you as our Father walked with me.
Do you not know that I walked with Him in peace?
And does not that mean that peace goes with us on the journey?
There is no fear in perfect love.
We will but be making perfect to you what is already perfect in you.
You do not fear the unknown,
But the known.
You will not fail in your mission,
Because I did not fail in mine.
Give me but a little trust in the name of the complete trust I have in you,
And we will easily accomplish the goal of perfection together.
For perfection is,
And cannot be denied.
To deny the denial of perfection is not so difficult as to deny truth,
And what we can accomplish together will be believed when you see it as accomplished.
You who have tried to banish love have not succeeded,
But you who chose to banish fear must succeed.
The Lord is with you,
But you know it not.
Yet your Redeemer liveth and abideth in you in the peace out of which He was created.
Could you not exchange this awareness for the awareness of fear?
When we have overcome fear,
Not by hiding it,
Not by minimizing it,
And not by denying its full import in any way,
This is what you will really see.
You cannot lay aside the obstacles to real vision without looking upon them,
For to lay aside means to judge against.
If you will look,
The Holy Spirit will judge,
And He will judge truly.
Yet He cannot shine away what you keep hidden,
For you have not offered it to Him,
And He cannot take it from you.
We are therefore embarking on an organized,
Well-structured,
And carefully planned program aimed at learning how to offer to the Holy Spirit everything you do not want.
He knows what to do with it.
You do not understand how to use what He knows.
Whatever is given Him that is not of God is gone.
Yet you must look at it yourself in perfect willingness,
For otherwise His knowledge remains useless to you.
Surely He will not fail to help you,
Since help is His only purpose.
Do you not have greater reason for fearing the world as you perceive it,
Than for looking at the cause of fear and letting it go forever?
