A Course In Miracles - Chapter 15, Section IV
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: 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 15,
The Holy Instant,
Section 4,
Practicing the Holy Instant.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 4 of Chapter 15,
We learn that the Holy Instant holds the whole release from littleness.
It is this instant and every instant.
The one we want it to be it is,
And the one we would not have it be is lost to us.
Our practice,
Then,
Must rest upon our willingness to let all littleness go.
For the instant in which magnitude dawns upon us is but as far away as we desire for it.
Yet we must not think that we can find salvation in our own way and have it.
We must give over every plan we have made for our salvation in exchange for God's.
His will content us,
And nothing else can bring us peace.
The Holy Instant helps us to recognize that we alone cannot know where it is and can only deceive ourselves.
Yet Jesus,
Our Brother and Guide,
Stands within the Holy Instant,
As clear as we would have him be,
Calling us to make the Holy Instant ours at once,
For the release from littleness in our minds depends on willingness and not on time.
We must be humble before him,
And yet great in him.
It is important to remember that the Holy Instant does not require that we have no thoughts that are not pure,
But it does require that we have none that we would keep.
Innocence is not of our making.
It is given to us the instant we would have it.
Atonement would not be if there were no need for it.
We must then try only to be vigilant against deception and seek not to protect the thoughts we would keep to ourselves.
We must let the Holy Spirit's purity shine them away and bring all of our awareness to the readiness for purity we are offered.
Thus will he make us ready to acknowledge that we are host to God and hostage to no one and to nothing.
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.
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.
We are saved from our belief in sin and guilt through the change of mind that forgiveness and the miracle bring about.
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.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 15,
The Holy Instant Section 4,
Practicing the Holy Instant This course is not beyond immediate learning,
Unless you believe that what God wills takes time.
And this means only that you would rather delay the recognition that His will is so.
The Holy Instant is this instant and every instant.
The one you want it to be it is.
The one you would not have it be is lost to you.
You must decide when it is.
Delay it not,
For beyond the past and future,
Where you will not find it,
It stands in shimmering readiness for your acceptance.
Yet you cannot bring it into glad awareness while you do not want it,
For it holds the whole release from littleness.
Your practice must therefore rest upon your willingness to let all littleness go.
The instant in which magnitude dawns upon you is but as far away as you desire for it.
As long as you desire it not and cherish littleness instead,
By so much is it far from you.
By so much as you want it,
Will you bring it nearer?
Think not that you can find salvation in your own way and have it.
Give over every plan you have made for your salvation in exchange for God's.
His will content you,
And nothing else can bring you peace.
For peace is of God,
And no one beside Him.
Be humble before Him,
And yet great in Him.
And value no plan of the ego before the plan of God.
For you leave empty your place in His plan,
Which you must fill if you would join with me,
By your decision to join in any plan but His.
I call you to fulfill your holy part in the plan that He has given to the world for its release from littleness.
God would have His host abide in perfect freedom.
Every allegiance to a plan of salvation apart from Him diminishes the value of His will for you in your own mind.
And yet,
It is your mind that is the host to Him.
Would you learn how perfect and immaculate is the holy altar on which your Father has placed Himself?
This you will recognize in the holy instant,
In which you willingly and gladly give over every plan but His.
For there lies peace,
Perfectly clear,
Because you have been willing to meet its conditions.
You can claim the holy instant anytime and anywhere you want it.
In your practice,
Try to give over every plan you have accepted for finding magnitude in littleness.
It is not there.
Use the holy instant only to recognize that you alone cannot know where it is,
And can only deceive yourself.
I stand within the holy instant,
As clear as you would have me.
And the extent to which you learn to accept me is the measure of the time in which the holy instant will be yours.
I call to you to make the holy instant yours at once.
For the release from littleness in the mind of the host of God depends on willingness and not on time.
The reason this course is simple is that truth is simple.
Complexity is of the ego,
And is nothing more than the egoís attempt to obscure the obvious.
You could live forever in the holy instant,
Beginning now,
And reaching to eternity,
But for a very simple reason.
Do not obscure the simplicity of this reason,
For if you do,
It will be only because you prefer not to recognize it and not to let it go.
The simple reason,
Simply stated,
Is this.
The holy instant is a time in which you receive and give perfect communication.
This means,
However,
That it is a time in which your mind is open,
Both to receive and give.
It is the recognition that all minds are in communication.
It therefore seeks to change nothing,
But merely to accept everything.
How can you do this when you prefer to have private thoughts and keep them?
The only way you could do that would be to deny the perfect communication that makes the holy instant what it is.
You believe you can harbor thoughts you would not share,
And that salvation lies in keeping thoughts to yourself alone.
For in private thoughts,
Known only to yourself,
You think you find a way to keep what you would have alone,
And share what you would share.
And then you wonder why it is that you are not in full communication with those around you and with God,
Who surrounds all of you together.
Every thought you would keep hidden shuts communication off,
Because you would have it so.
It is impossible to recognize perfect communication while breaking communication holds value to you.
Ask yourself honestly,
Would I want to have perfect communication,
And am I wholly willing to let everything that interferes with it go forever?
If the answer is no,
Then the Holy Spiritís readiness to give it to you is not enough to make it yours,
For you are not ready to share it with Him,
And it cannot come into a mind that has decided to oppose it.
For the holy instant is given and received with equal willingness,
Being the acceptance of the single will that governs all thought.
The necessary condition for the holy instant does not require that you have no thoughts that are not pure,
But it does require that you have none that you would keep.
Innocence is not of your making.
It is given you the instant you would have it.
Atonement would not be if there were no need for it.
You will not be able to accept perfect communication as long as you would hide it from yourself,
For what you would hide is hidden from you.
In your practice,
Then,
Try only to be vigilant against deception,
And seek not to protect the thoughts you would keep to yourself.
Let the Holy Spiritís purity shine them away,
And bring all your awareness to the readiness for purity He offers you.
Thus will He make you ready to acknowledge that you are host to God and hostage to no one and to nothing.
