Hi,
I'm Teresa Hubbard.
Welcome back to our continued reading of the text to A Course in Miracles.
We continue today in chapter 2,
The Separation and the Atonement,
Section 3,
The Altar of God.
To summarize my takeaways,
In section 3 of chapter 2,
We are reminded that whenever we are suffering in any way,
We are deceiving ourselves and cannot hear the voice of God.
Our tolerance for pain is quite high,
But thankfully is not without limit.
God created us perfect,
And because of this,
We are entitled to the perfect comfort arising from perfect trust.
Maybe we all realize,
However dimly at first,
There is a better way.
As this recognition becomes clear to us,
It becomes our turning point.
We are offered a visualization comparing a temple and an altar.
Like our bodies,
We enjoy the physical beauty of ornate temples.
Yet it is only what is inside,
The altar,
Where true holiness lies.
While we can see outward beauty with our physical sight,
Spiritual sight does not see the temple at all,
But only the truth within.
Our purpose on this earth then,
Is to heal our minds,
Remembering that we are not separate from God.
As we learn to look upon this world as a means of healing,
We open ourselves to the atonement.
The means for accepting the atonement have already been provided us and require no effort on our part at all,
Just our willingness to trust the truth within ourselves.
The atonement is our guarantee that we will ultimately succeed.
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 definitions of terms you will hear within this reading.
Atonement The Holy Spirit's plan of correction Healing our minds from the earthly world of illusion to God's world of truth.
Holy Spirit The communication link between God and us,
Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds.
Christ The self that God created by extension of His Spirit.
It represents the potential within each of us.
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,
This is our altar.
Separation The untrue belief in sin that affirms our identity as separate from our Creator.
This idea is represented by the ego,
Resulting in a world filled with a perception of pain,
Suffering and death.
Vision The perception of Christ,
Seeing beyond the body to our true identity.
It's a decision to accept reality rather than judge it.
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.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 2 The Separation and the Atonement Section 3 The Altar of God The atonement can only be accepted within you by releasing the inner light.
Since the separation,
Defenses have been used almost entirely to defend against the atonement,
And thus maintain the separation.
This is generally seen as a need to protect the body.
The many body fantasies in which minds engage arise from the distorted belief that the body can be used as a means for attaining atonement.
Perceiving the body as a temple is only the first step in correcting this distortion,
Because it alters only part of it.
It does recognize that atonement in physical terms is impossible.
The next step,
However,
Is to realize that a temple is not a structure at all.
Its true holiness lies at the inner altar around which the structure is built.
The emphasis on beautiful structures is a sign of the fear of atonement,
And an unwillingness to reach the altar itself.
The real beauty of the temple cannot be seen with the physical eye.
Spiritual sight,
On the other hand,
Cannot see the structure at all,
Because it is perfect vision.
It can,
However,
See the altar with perfect clarity.
For perfect effectiveness,
The atonement belongs at the center of the inner altar,
Where it undoes the separation and restores the wholeness of the mind.
Before the separation,
The mind was invulnerable to fear,
Because fear did not exist.
Both the separation and the fear are miscreations that must be undone for the restoration of the temple,
And for the opening of the altar to receive the atonement.
This heals the separation by placing within you the one effective defense against all separation thoughts,
And making you perfectly invulnerable.
The acceptance of the atonement by everyone is only a matter of time.
This may appear to contradict free will because of the inevitability of the final decision,
But this is not so.
You can temporize and you are capable of enormous procrastination,
But you cannot depart entirely from your Creator,
Who set the limits on your ability to miscreate.
An imprisoned will engenders a situation which,
In the extreme,
Becomes altogether intolerable.
Tolerance for pain may be high,
But it is not without limit.
Eventually,
Everyone begins to recognize,
However dimly,
That there must be a better way.
As this recognition becomes more firmly established,
It becomes a turning point.
This ultimately reawakens spiritual vision,
Simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight.
The alternating investment in the two levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict,
Which can become very acute.
But the outcome is as certain as God.
Spiritual vision literally cannot see error,
And merely looks for atonement.
All solutions the physical eye seeks dissolve.
Spiritual vision looks within and recognizes immediately that the altar has been defiled and needs to be repaired and protected.
Perfectly aware of the right defenses,
It passes over all others,
Looking past error to truth.
Because of the strength of its vision,
It brings the mind into its service.
This reestablishes the power of the mind and makes it increasingly unable to tolerate delay,
Realizing that it only adds unnecessary pain.
As a result,
The mind becomes increasingly sensitive to what it would once have regarded as very minor intrusions of discomfort.
The children of God are entitled to the perfect comfort that comes from perfect trust.
Until they achieve this,
They waste themselves and their true creative powers on useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means.
But the real means are already provided and do not involve any effort at all on their part.
The atonement is the only gift that is worthy of being offered at the altar of God because of the value of the altar itself.
It was created perfect and is entirely worthy of receiving perfection.
God and His creations are completely dependent on each other.
He depends on them because He created them perfect.
He gave them His peace so they could not be shaken and could not be deceived.
Whenever you are afraid,
You are deceived and your mind cannot serve the Holy Spirit.
This starves you by denying you your daily bread.
God is lonely without His sons and they are lonely without Him.
They must learn to look upon the world as a means of healing the separation.
The atonement is the guarantee that they will ultimately succeed.
