A Course In Miracles - Chapter 4, Section VII
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. (Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306 Novato, CA 94949 USA). 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 4,
The Illusions of the Ego,
Section 7,
Creation and Communication.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 7 of Chapter 4,
We are given further clarification between the concepts of ego and spirit.
The ego is the part of our mind that believes its existence is defined by its separation from God.
It is controlled by the need to protect itself and will disrupt communication when it experiences threat.
This disruption in our communication with God results in our perception of an existence of suffering,
Aloneness and fear.
In contrast,
Spirit knows that what is true is everything that God created.
It is in complete and direct communication with every aspect of creation because it is in complete and direct communication with its Creator.
God created every mind by communicating His mind to it,
Thus establishing it forever as a channel of His mind and will.
This is the concept of being.
Since only beings of a like order can truly communicate,
God's creations naturally communicate with Him and like Him.
Unlike existence,
Which is a state of the ego,
Spirit knows there is no difference between having and being.
In the state of being,
The mind gives everything always because nothing real can be increased except by sharing.
That is why God created us.
Our divine nature,
In communication with God,
Takes joy in sharing.
That is what creation means.
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 the reading.
Ego – our belief in the separated or false self that we made as a substitute for the self that God created.
Spirit – the nature of our true reality,
Which,
Being of God,
Is changeless and eternal.
Function – the extension of God's love,
Or spirit.
As sons of God,
We were created by God,
And in turn our function of creating is restored to our awareness when the atonement is complete.
Atonement – the Holy Spirit's plan of correction,
Healing our minds from the earthly world of illusion to God's world of truth.
The atonement principle is that our separation from God never really occurred,
And the correction is our allowing of our minds to be healed through total forgiveness of ourselves and others.
Revelation – direct communication from God to His sons.
It represents the original form of communication present at creation.
Once our minds are healed and we remember our truth,
The Holy Spirit,
Our bridge of communication is no longer needed.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 4 – The Illusions of the Ego Section 7 – Creation and Communication It is clear that while the content of any particular ego illusion does not matter,
Its correction is more helpful in a specific context.
Ego illusions are quite specific,
Although the mind is naturally abstract.
Part of the mind becomes concrete,
However,
When it splits.
The concrete part believes in the ego,
Because the ego depends on the concrete.
The ego is the part of the mind that believes your existence is defined by separation.
Everything the ego perceives is a separate whole without the relationships that imply being.
The ego is thus against communication,
Except insofar as it is utilized to establish separateness rather than to abolish it.
The communication system of the ego is based on its own thought system,
As is everything else it dictates.
Its communication is controlled by its need to protect itself,
And it will disrupt communication when it experiences threat.
This disruption is a reaction to a specific person or persons.
The specificity of the ego's thinking,
Then,
Results in spurious generalization,
Which is really not abstract at all.
It merely responds in certain specific ways to everything it perceives as related.
In contrast,
Spirit reacts in the same way to everything it knows is true,
And does not respond at all to anything else.
Nor does it make any attempt to establish what is true.
It knows that what is true is everything that God created.
It is in complete and direct communication with every aspect of creation because it is in complete and direct communication with its Creator.
This communication is the will of God.
Creation and communication are synonymous.
God created every mind by communicating His mind to it,
Thus establishing it forever as a channel for the reception of His mind and will.
Since only beings of a like order can truly communicate,
His creations naturally communicate with Him and like Him.
This communication is perfectly abstract,
Since its quality is universal in application and not subject to any judgment,
Any exception,
Or any alteration.
God created you by this and for this.
The mind can distort its function,
But it cannot endow itself with functions it was not given.
That is why the mind cannot totally lose the ability to communicate,
Even though it may refuse to utilize it on behalf of being.
Existence as well as being rests on communication.
Existence however is specific in how,
What,
And with whom communication is judged to be worth undertaking.
Being is completely without these distinctions.
It is a state in which the mind is in communication with everything that is real.
To whatever extent you permit this state to be curtailed,
You are limiting your sense of your own reality,
Which becomes total only by recognizing all reality in the glorious context of its real relationship to you.
This is your reality.
Do not desecrate it or recoil from it.
It is your real home,
Your real temple,
And your real self.
God,
Who encompasses all being,
Created beings who have everything individually,
But who want to share it to increase their joy.
Nothing real can be increased except by sharing.
That is why God created you.
Divine abstraction takes joy in sharing.
That is what creation means.
How,
What,
And to whom are irrelevant,
Because real creation gives everything,
Since it can create only like itself.
Remember that in the kingdom there is no difference between having and being,
As there is an existence.
In the state of being,
The mind gives everything always.
The Bible repeatedly states that you should praise God.
This hardly means that you should tell Him how wonderful He is.
He has no ego with which to accept such praise,
And no perception with which to judge it.
But unless you take your part in the creation,
His joy is not complete,
Because yours is incomplete.
And this He does know.
He knows it in His own being,
And its experience of His Son's experience.
The constant going out of His love is blocked when His channels are closed,
And He is lonely when the minds He created do not communicate fully with Him.
God has kept your kingdom for you,
But He cannot share His joy with you until you know it with your whole mind.
Revelation is not enough,
Because it is only communication from God.
God does not need revelation returned to Him,
Which would clearly be impossible,
But He does want it brought to others.
This cannot be done with the actual revelation.
Its content cannot be expressed,
Because it is intensely personal to the mind that receives it.
It can,
However,
Be returned by that mind to other minds through the attitudes the knowledge from the revelation brings.
God is praised whenever any mind learns to be wholly helpful.
This is impossible without being wholly harmless,
Because the two beliefs must coexist.
The truly helpful are invulnerable,
Because they are not protecting their egos,
And so nothing can hurt them.
Their helpfulness is their praise of God,
And He will return their praise of Him,
Because they are like Him,
And they can rejoice together.
God goes out to them and through them,
And there is great joy throughout the kingdom.
Every mind that is changed adds to this joy with its individual willingness to share in it.
The truly helpful are God's miracle workers,
Whom I direct until we are all united in the joy of the kingdom.
I will direct you to wherever you can be truly helpful,
And to whoever can follow my guidance through you.
