Hi,
I'm Teresa Hubbard.
Welcome back to our continued reading of the text to A Course in Miracles.
We continue today in Chapter 7,
The Gifts of the Kingdom,
Section 2,
The Law of the Kingdom.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 2 of Chapter 7,
We are reminded again that what we project or extend is real for us.
We are told that whenever a brother perceives himself as sick,
He is perceiving himself as not whole and therefore in need.
We are then cautioned that when we too see him in this way,
We are seeing him as if he were absent from the kingdom or separated from it,
Thus making the kingdom obscure to both of us.
We are reminded that sickness and separation are not of God,
But the kingdom is.
Thus if we obscure the kingdom by seeing our brother outside of it,
We are perceiving what is not of God,
Which is not real.
To heal then is to correct perception in our brother and ourselves by sharing the Holy Spirit within us.
This reflects creation,
Since it unifies by increasing and integrates by extending.
The Holy Spirit is the translator of the laws of God to those that do not understand them.
We could not do this ourselves,
Because our conflicted minds cannot be faithful to one meaning.
Yet the Holy Spirit's translation is exactly the opposite.
The meaning of His message is always the same.
Only the meaning matters,
Emphasizing that differences in form are meaningless.
We will not understand His translations while we listen to two ways of interpreting them.
In this world,
Diametrically opposed outcomes seem possible because we can respond to two conflicting voices.
What can the perfect consistency of the kingdom mean to us who are confused?
Yet there is no confusion in the kingdom,
Because there is only one meaning.
This meaning comes from God and is God.
Because it is also us,
We share it and extend it as our Creator did.
Therefore we must forget or relinquish one of the two conflicting voices to understand the other.
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 term you will hear within this reading,
Kingdom,
The non-dualistic world of knowledge wherein God and His creations dwell in perfect unity.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 7,
The Gifts of the Kingdom And 2,
The Law of the Kingdom To heal is the only kind of thinking in this world that resembles the thought of God,
And because of the elements they share,
Can transfer easily to it.
When a brother perceives himself as sick,
He is perceiving himself as not whole and therefore in need.
If you too see him this way,
You are seeing him as if he were absent from the Kingdom or separated from it,
Thus making the Kingdom itself obscure to both of you.
Sickness and separation are not of God,
But the Kingdom is.
If you obscure the Kingdom,
You are perceiving what is not of God.
To heal,
Then,
Is to correct perception in your brother and yourself by sharing the Holy Spirit with him.
This places you both within the Kingdom and restores its wholeness in your mind.
This reflects creation,
Because it unifies by increasing and integrates by extending.
What you project or extend is real for you.
This is an immutable law of the mind in this world as well as in the Kingdom.
However,
The content is different in this world because the thoughts it governs are very different from the thoughts in the Kingdom.
Laws must be adapted to circumstances if they are to maintain order.
The outstanding characteristic of the laws of mind as they operate in this world is that by obeying them,
And I assure you that you must obey them,
You can arrive at diametrically opposed results.
This is because the laws have been adapted to the circumstances of this world in which diametrically opposed outcomes seem possible because you can respond to two conflicting voices.
Outside the Kingdom,
The law that prevails inside is adapted to,
Quote,
What you project you believe,
End quote.
This is its teaching form,
Because outside the Kingdom,
Learning is essential.
This form implies that you will learn what you are from what you have projected onto others and therefore believe they are.
In the Kingdom,
There is no teaching or learning,
Because there is no belief.
There's only certainty.
God and his sons,
In the surety of being,
Know that what you extend,
You are.
That form of the law is not adapted at all,
Being the law of creation.
God himself created the law by creating by it,
And his sons,
Who create like him,
Follow it gladly,
Knowing that the increase of the Kingdom depends on it,
Just as their own creation did.
Laws must be communicated if they are to be helpful.
In effect,
They must be translated for those who speak different languages.
Nevertheless,
A good translator,
Although he must alter the form of what he translates,
Never changes the meaning.
In fact,
His whole purpose is to change the form so that the original meaning is retained.
The Holy Spirit is the translator of the laws of God to those who do not understand them.
You could not do this yourself,
Because a conflicted mind cannot be faithful to one meaning and will therefore change the meaning to preserve the form.
The Holy Spirit's purpose in translating is exactly the opposite.
He translates only to preserve the original meaning in all respects and in all languages.
Therefore he opposes the idea that differences in form are meaningful,
Emphasizing always that these differences do not matter.
The meaning of his message is always the same.
Only the meaning matters.
God's law of creation does not involve the use of truth to convince us sons of truth.
The extension of truth,
Which is the law of the Kingdom,
Rests only on the knowledge of what truth is.
This is your inheritance and requires no learning at all.
But when you disinherited yourself,
You became a learner of necessity.
No one questions the connection of learning and memory.
Learning is impossible without memory,
Since it must be consistent to be remembered.
That is why the Holy Spirit's teaching is a lesson in remembering.
I said before that he teaches remembering and forgetting,
But the forgetting is only to make the remembering consistent.
You forget in order to remember better.
You will not understand his translations while you listen to two ways of interpreting them.
Therefore you must forget or relinquish one to understand the other.
This is the only way you can learn consistency so that you can finally be consistent.
What can the perfect consistency of the Kingdom mean to those who are confused?
It is apparent that confusion interferes with meaning and therefore prevents the learner from appreciating it.
There is no confusion in the Kingdom because there is only one meaning.
This meaning comes from God and is God.
Because it is also you,
You share it and extend it as your Creator did.
This needs no translation because it is perfectly understood.
But it does need extension because it means extension.
Communication is perfectly direct and perfectly united.
It is totally free because nothing discordant ever enters.
That is why it is the Kingdom of God.
It belongs to him and is therefore like him.
That is its reality and nothing can assail it.
