A Course In Miracles - Chapter 14, Section V

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.

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 14,

Teaching for Truth,

Section 5,

The Circle of Atonement.

To summarize my takeaways,

In Section 5 of Chapter 14,

We are reminded that the miracle acknowledges the guiltlessness that must have been denied to produce the need of healing.

We must not withhold this glad acknowledgment,

For hope of happiness and release from suffering of every kind lie in it.

Who is there but wishes to be free of pain?

Everyone we see we either place within the holy circle of atonement or leave outside,

Judging them fit for crucifixion or for redemption.

If we bring them into the circle of purity,

We will rest there with them.

If we leave them out,

We join them there.

We must then judge not except in quietness,

Which is not of us.

We must cast no one out,

For here is what they seek along with us.

Let us then join together in the holy place of peace,

Which is for all of us,

United as one within the cause of peace.

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.

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.

The two teachers are the ego and the 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.

The 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.

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.

Guilt.

The feeling we experience in relation to sin.

Guilt's reflection from our minds is seen in all the negative feelings and beliefs we have about ourselves,

Mostly unconscious,

Resting on a sense of inherent unworthiness,

Seemingly beyond even the forgiving power of God,

Who we erroneously believe demands punishment.

We then deny its presence in our minds and project it outward in the form of attack,

Either onto others as anger or onto ourselves as sickness,

Whether it be physical or emotional.

Alter.

Not an external structure,

But an attitude.

It represents the part of our minds that chooses the world of God,

Truth,

Or chooses instead the earthly world,

Illusion.

Whatever attitude we choose,

That is our alter.

Atonement.

The Holy Spirit's plan of correction,

Healing our minds from the earthly world of illusion to God's world of truth.

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 14.

Teaching for Truth.

Section 5.

The Circle of Atonement.

The only part of your mind that has reality is the part that links you still with God.

Would you have it all transformed into a radiant message of God's love,

To share with all the lonely ones who have denied Him?

God makes this possible.

Would you deny His yearning to be known?

You yearn for Him as He for you.

This is forever changeless.

Accept,

Then,

The immutable.

Leave the world of death behind and return quietly to heaven.

There is nothing of value here and everything of value there.

Listen to the Holy Spirit and to God through Him.

He speaks of you to you.

There is no guilt in you,

For God is blessed in His Son as the Son is blessed in Him.

Everyone has a special part to play in the atonement,

But the message given to each one is always the same.

God's Son is guiltless.

Each one teaches the message differently and learns it differently.

Yet until he teaches it and learns it,

He will suffer the pain of dim awareness that his true function remains unfulfilled in him.

The burden of guilt is heavy,

But God would not have you bound by it.

His plan for your awaking is as perfect as yours is fallible.

You know not what you do,

But He who knows is with you.

His gentleness is yours.

And all the love you share with God,

He holds in trust for you.

He would teach you nothing except how to be happy.

Blessed Son of a holy blessing Father,

Joy was created for you.

Who can condemn whom God has blessed?

There is nothing in the mind of God that does not share His shining innocence.

Creation is the natural extension of perfect purity.

Your only calling here is to devote yourself with active willingness to the denial of guilt in all its forms.

To accuse is not to understand.

The happy learners of the atonement become the teachers of the innocence that is the right of all that God created.

Deny them not what is their due,

For you will not withhold it from them alone.

The inheritance of the kingdom is the right of God's Son,

Given Him in His creation.

Do not try to steal it from Him,

Or you will ask for guilt and will experience it.

Protect His purity from every thought that would steal it away and keep it from His sight.

Bring innocence to light in answer to the call of the atonement.

Never allow purity to remain hidden,

But shine away the heavy veils of guilt within which the Son of God has hidden Himself from His own sight.

We are all joined in the atonement here,

And nothing else can unite us in this world.

So will the world of separation slip away,

And full communication be restored between the Father and the Son.

The miracle acknowledges the guiltlessness that must have been denied to reduce the need of healing.

Do not withhold this glad acknowledgment,

For hope of happiness and release from suffering of every kind lie in it.

Who is there but wishes to be free of pain?

He may not yet have learned how to exchange guilt for innocence,

Nor realize that only in this exchange can freedom from pain be His.

Yet those who have failed to learn need teaching,

Not attack.

To attack those who have need of teaching is to fail to learn from them.

Teachers of innocence,

Each in their own way,

Have joined together,

Taking their part in the unified curriculum of the atonement.

There is no unity of learning goals apart from this.

There is no conflict in this curriculum,

Which has one aim however it is taught.

Each effort made on its behalf is offered for the single purpose of release from guilt,

To the eternal glory of God and His creation.

And every teaching that points to this,

Points straight to Heaven and the peace of God.

There is no pain,

No trial,

No fear that teaching this can fail to overcome.

The power of God Himself supports this teaching,

And guarantees its limitless results.

Join your own efforts to the power that cannot fail,

And must result in peace.

No one can be untouched by teaching such as this.

You will not see yourself beyond the power of God,

If you teach only this.

You will not be exempt from the effects of this most holy lesson,

Which seeks but to restore what is the right of God's creation.

From everyone whom you accord release from guilt,

You will inevitably learn your innocence.

The circle of atonement has no end.

And you will find ever increasing confidence in your safe inclusion in the circle,

With everyone you bring within its safety and its perfect peace.

Peace then be unto everyone who becomes a teacher of peace.

For peace is the acknowledgement of perfect purity,

From which no one is excluded.

Within its holy circle is everyone whom God created as His Son.

Joy is its unifying attribute,

With no one left outside to suffer guilt alone.

The power of God draws everyone to its safe embrace of love and union.

Stand quietly within the circle,

And attract all tortured minds to join with you in the safety of its peace and holiness.

Abide with me within it,

As a teacher of atonement,

Not of guilt.

Blessed are you who teach with me.

Our power comes not of us,

But of our Father.

In guiltlessness we know Him,

As He knows us guiltless.

I stand within the circle,

Calling you to peace.

Teach peace with me,

And stand with me on holy ground.

Remember for everyone your Father's power that He has given Him.

Believe not that you cannot teach His perfect peace.

Stand not outside,

But join with me within.

Fail not the only purpose to which my teaching calls you.

Restore to God His Son,

As He created Him,

By teaching Him His innocence.

The crucifixion had no part in the atonement.

Only the resurrection became my part in it.

That is the symbol of the release from guilt by guiltlessness.

Whom you perceive as guilty,

You would crucify.

Yet you restore guiltlessness to whomever you see as guiltless.

Crucifixion is always the ego's aim.

It sees everyone as guilty,

And by its condemnation it would kill.

The Holy Spirit sees only guiltlessness,

And in His gentleness,

He would release from fear and re-establish the reign of love.

The power of love is in His gentleness,

Which is of God,

And therefore cannot crucify nor suffer crucifixion.

The temple you restore becomes your altar,

For it was rebuilt through you.

And everything you give to God is yours.

Thus He creates,

And thus must you restore.

Each one you see,

You place within the holy circle of atonement,

Or leave outside,

Judging him fit for crucifixion,

Or for redemption.

If you bring him into the circle of purity,

You will rest there with him.

If you leave him without,

You join him there.

Judge not,

Except in quietness,

Which is not of you.

Refuse to accept anyone as without the blessing of atonement,

And bring him into it by blessing him.

Holiness must be shared,

For therein lies everything that makes it holy.

Come gladly to the holy circle,

And look out in peace on all who think they are outside.

Cast no one out,

For here is what he seeks along with you.

Come,

Let us join with him in the holy place of peace,

Which is for all of us,

United as one,

Within the cause of peace.