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 8,
The Holy Meeting Place.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 8 of Chapter 14,
We learn that in the darkness we have obscured the glory God gave us and the power He bestowed upon us.
Behind the darkened doors we have closed lies nothing,
Because nothing can obscure the gift of God,
And it is the closing of the doors that interferes with recognition of the power of God that shines in us.
We must not banish power from our mind,
But let all that would hide our glory be brought to the judgment of the Holy Spirit,
And there it will be undone.
The Holy Spirit,
The guide given to us by God,
Has promised the Father that through Him we would be released from littleness to glory,
And to what He promised God He is wholly faithful,
For He shares with God the promise that was given to Him to share with us.
We must then ask ourselves,
Can we offer guilt to God?
Of course not!
We cannot then offer it to His Son,
For we are not apart from God,
And gifts offered to one are offered to the other.
We know not God because we know not this,
And yet in reality we do know God and also this.
All this is safe within us where the Holy Spirit shines.
We must come to know that He shines not in division,
But in the Meeting Place,
Where God,
United with His Son,
Speaks to His Son through Him.
We must not let our mind wander through darkened corridors away from light's center.
We may choose to lead ourselves astray,
But we are brought together only by the guide God appointed for us.
We must unite with what we are.
Where God is,
There we are.
Such is the truth.
And to whom God gives Himself,
He is given.
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.
Altar,
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 altar.
Truth,
Something is either true or false,
Reality or illusion,
There can be no compromise.
We are either created by God,
Or made by the ego.
This principle explains why there is no order of difficulty in miracles,
Since all that is needed for healing,
Or the miracle to occur,
Is to shift from the illusions of the ego to the truth of the Holy Spirit.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles,
Chapter 14,
Teaching for Truth,
Section 8,
The Holy Meeting Place.
In the darkness you have obscured the glory God gave you,
And the power He bestowed upon His guiltless Son.
All this lies hidden in every darkened place,
Shrouded in guilt and in the dark denial of innocence.
Behind the dark doors you have closed lies nothing,
Because nothing can obscure the gift of God.
It is the closing of the doors that interferes with recognition of the power of God that shines in you.
Banish not power from your mind,
But let all that would hide your glory be brought to the judgment of the Holy Spirit,
And there undone.
Whom He would save for glory is saved for it.
He has promised the Father that through Him you would be released from littleness to glory.
To what He promised God He is wholly faithful,
For He shares with God the promise that was given Him to share with you.
He shares it still,
For you.
Everything that promises otherwise,
Great or small,
However much or little valued,
He will replace with the one promise given unto Him to lay upon the altar to your Father and His Son.
No altar stands to God without His Son,
And nothing brought there that is not equally worthy of both but will be replaced by gifts wholly acceptable to Father and to Son.
Can you offer guilt to God?
You cannot then offer it to His Son,
For they are not apart,
And gifts to one are offered to the other.
You know not God because you know not this,
And yet you do know God and also this.
All this is safe within you where the Holy Spirit shines.
He shines not in division,
But in the meeting place where God,
United with His Son,
Speaks to His Son through Him.
Communication between what cannot be divided cannot cease.
The holy meeting place of the unseparated Father and His Son lies in the Holy Spirit and in you.
All interference in the communication that God Himself wills with His Son is quite impossible here.
Unbroken and uninterrupted love flows constantly between the Father and the Son,
As both would have it be.
And so it is.
Let your mind wander not through darkened corridors,
Away from light's center.
You and your brother may choose to lead yourselves astray,
But you can be brought together only by the guide appointed for you.
He will surely lead you to where God and His Son await your recognition.
They are joined in giving you the gift of oneness,
Before which all separation vanishes.
Unite with what you are.
You cannot join with anything except reality.
God's glory and His Son's belong to you in truth.
They have no opposite.
And nothing else can you bestow upon yourself.
There is no substitute for truth.
And truth will make this plain to you,
As you are brought into the place where you must meet with truth.
And there you must be led,
Through gentle understanding,
Which can lead you nowhere else.
Where God is,
There are you.
Such is the truth.
Nothing can change the knowledge given you by God into unknowingness.
Everything God created knows its Creator,
For this is how creation is accomplished by the Creator and by His creations.
In the holy meeting place are joined the Father and His creations,
And the creations of His Son with them together.
There is one link that joins them all together,
Holding them in the oneness out of which creation happens.
The link with which the Father joins Himself to those He gives the power to create can never be dissolved.
Heaven itself is union with all of creation and with its one Creator.
And heaven remains the will of God for you.
Lay no gifts other than this upon your altars,
For nothing can coexist with it.
Here your little offerings are brought together with the gift of God,
And only what is worthy of the Father will be accepted by the Son for whom it is intended.
To whom God gives Himself,
He is given.
Your little gifts will vanish on the altar where He has placed His own.
