A Course In Miracles - Chapter 9, 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 9,

The Acceptance of the Atonement,

Section 7,

The Two Evaluations.

To summarize my takeaways,

In Section 7 of Chapter 9,

We are reminded that the Holy Spirit looks with love on all He perceives.

His evaluation of us is based on His knowledge of what we are,

And so He evaluates us truly.

We are told here that we do not realize how lofty the Holy Spirit's perception of us really is.

The Holy Spirit is not deceived by anything we do,

Because He never forgets what we are.

In contrast,

The ego's perception of us is the exact opposite of the Holy Spirit's.

The ego is unaware of what we are,

And wholly mistrustful of everything it perceives.

The ego is therefore capable of suspiciousness at best,

And viciousness at worst.

When we choose to see ourselves as unloving,

We will not be happy,

Because we are condemning ourselves and must therefore regard ourselves as inadequate,

Which is part of the ego's insane thought system.

We are reminded here that we cannot evaluate an insane belief system from within it.

We can only go beyond it,

Look back from a point where sanity exists,

And see the contrast.

Only by this contrast can insanity be judged as insane.

We are told to remember that the truth about us is so lofty that nothing unworthy of God is worthy of us.

Nothing that arises from the ego's thought system means anything.

The Holy Spirit judges every belief we hold in terms of where it comes from.

If it comes from God,

It is true,

And if it does not,

It is meaningless.

We must then choose what we want in these terms,

And accept nothing for ourselves that we would not offer as wholly fitting for God.

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,

Ego and Holy Spirit.

Ego is our belief in the separated or false self that we made as a substitute for the self that God created.

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.

Salvation We are saved from our belief in sin and guilt through the change of mind that forgiveness and the miracle bring about.

Atonement The Holy Spirit's plan of correction,

Healing our minds from the earthly world of illusion to God's world of truth.

And now,

On to the reading.

A Course in Miracles Chapter 9,

The Acceptance of the Atonement.

Section 7,

The Two Evaluations God's will is your salvation.

Would He not have given you the means to find it?

If He wills you to have it,

He must have made it possible and easy to obtain it.

Your brothers are everywhere.

You do not have to seek far for salvation.

Every minute and every second gives you a chance to save yourself.

Do not lose these chances,

Not because they will not return,

But because delay of joy is needless.

God wills you perfect happiness now.

Is it possible that this is not also your will?

And is it possible that this is not also the will of your brothers?

Consider then that in this joint will you are all united,

And in this only.

There may be disagreement on anything else,

But not on this.

This then is where peace abides.

And you abide in peace when you so decide.

Yet you cannot abide in peace unless you accept the atonement,

Because the atonement is the way to peace.

The reason is very simple,

And so obvious that it is often overlooked.

The ego is afraid of the obvious,

Since obviousness is the essential characteristic of reality.

Yet you cannot overlook it unless you are not looking.

It is perfectly obvious that if the Holy Spirit looks with love on all He perceives,

He looks with love on you.

His evaluation of you is based on His knowledge of what you are,

And so He evaluates you truly.

And this evaluation must be in your mind,

Because He is.

The ego is also in your mind,

Because you have accepted it there.

The ego's evaluation of you,

However,

Is the exact opposite of the Holy Spirit's,

Because the ego does not love you.

The ego is unaware of what you are,

And wholly mistrustful of everything it perceives,

Because its perceptions are so shifting.

The ego is therefore capable of suspiciousness at best,

And viciousness at worst.

That is its range.

It cannot exceed it,

Because of its uncertainty.

And it can never go beyond it,

Because it can never be certain.

You then have two conflicting evaluations of yourself in your mind,

And they cannot both be true.

You do not yet realize how completely different these evaluations are,

Because you do not understand how lofty the Holy Spirit's perception of you really is.

The Holy Spirit is not deceived by anything you do,

Because He never forgets what you are.

The ego is deceived by everything you do,

Especially when you respond to the Holy Spirit,

Because at such times its confusion increases.

The ego is therefore particularly likely to attack you when you react lovingly,

Because it has evaluated you as unloving,

And you are going against its judgment.

The ego will attack your motives as soon as they become clearly out of accord with its perception of you.

This is when it will shift abruptly from suspiciousness to viciousness,

Since its uncertainty is increased.

Yet it is surely pointless to attack in return.

What can this mean,

Except that you are agreeing with the ego's evaluation of what you are?

If you choose to see yourself as unloving,

You will not be happy.

You are condemning yourself,

And must therefore regard yourself as inadequate.

Would you look to the ego to help you escape from a sense of inadequacy it has produced,

And must maintain for its existence?

Can you escape from its evaluation of you by using its methods for keeping this picture intact?

You cannot evaluate an insane belief system from within it.

Its range precludes this.

You can only go beyond it,

Look back from a point where sanity exists,

And see the contrast.

Only by this contrast can insanity be judged as insane.

With the grandeur of God in you,

You have chosen to be little,

And to lament your littleness.

Within the system that dictated this choice,

The lament is inevitable.

Your littleness is taken for granted there,

And you do not ask,

Quote,

Who granted it,

End quote.

The question is meaningless within the ego's thought system,

Because it would open the whole thought system to question.

I have said that the ego does not know what a real question is.

Lack of knowledge of any kind is always associated with unwillingness to know,

And this produces a total lack of knowledge simply because knowledge is total.

Not to question your littleness,

Therefore,

Is to deny all knowledge and keep the ego's whole thought system intact.

You cannot retain part of a thought system because it can be questioned only at its foundation.

And this must be questioned from beyond it,

Because within it,

Its foundation does stand.

The Holy Spirit judges against the reality of the ego's thought system merely because its foundation is not true.

Therefore,

Nothing that arises from it means anything.

The Holy Spirit judges every belief you hold in terms of where it comes from.

If it comes from God,

He knows it to be true.

If it does not,

He knows that it is meaningless.

Whenever you question your value,

Say,

God himself is incomplete without me.

Remember this when the ego speaks,

And you will not hear it.

The truth about you is so lofty that nothing unworthy of God is worthy of you.

Choose then what you want in these terms,

And accept nothing that you would not offer to God as wholly fitting for him.

You do not want anything else.

Return your part to him,

And he will give you all of himself in exchange for the return of what belongs to him and renders him complete.

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