Death is a choice and not a fact! If you identify with the ego you will experience death because the ego is a dream of death, but you will not die.—- You are not sick and you cannot die. ⁴But you can confuse yourself with things that do.  (ACIM, T-10.V.8:3-5)

We never respond to anything directly, only to our interpretation which Is based on our belief. Such is the nature of perception and it has profound implications in our daily experiences. The purpose of this essay is to bring to our awareness the fact that different interpretations, even regarding pain, suffering and death, result in different experiences. Through the application of the Course’s teaching in all aspects of our perceptual life, we will discover that we have two basic choices when responding to anything. Simply stated we can choose to identify with the ego/body thought system  or spirit/mind thought system and our experience will reflect the choice we make. By choosing the former you will reinforce your belief in illusions and dedication to death; by choosing the latter you demonstrate your dedication to life.

If you perceive yourself being attacked and experience fear, remember that your reaction was based on your interpretation of what happened, not what actually happened. Did you choose your ego interpretation or Spirit’s interpretation? They are fundamentally distinct and that is why people who are confronted with the same situation, in terms of form, respond very differently. Awareness of this fact is the difference between experiencing peace or fear.

The Course is very practical—“ It emphasizes application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology.” — You can debate whether what the Course is saying is true or you can apply it to every aspect of your life and let your own experience tell you. The truth is obvious never circular and never self defeating. I thank God I am more than the ego I made, and that I am as God created me. The Course is an organized, well-structured and carefully planned program designed to guide us through the darkness of our dreamworld to what it refers to as the “real world.” This is not our reality, it is this world forgiven.—-When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream. God has provided the Answer, the only Way out, the true Helper. It is the function of His Voice, His Holy Spirit, to mediate between the two worlds. He can do this because, while on the one hand He knows the truth, on the other He also recognizes our illusions, but without believing in them (ACIM, Preface.5:1-5)

What are the odds that “we” could be wrong about everything we perceive in the world? And I mean everything: pain, suffering, loss and even death.—- My ego didn’t hesitate for one second: one in a bazillion! it exclaimed.—A still quiet Voice calmly replied: I’ll take those odds.

Why? —-In the perceptual world, before you can say whether something is true it has to be considered within a framework that allows for something to be true.— Spirit knows the ego is an illusion and the world we believe in is a dreamworld not a real world. It is only our belief in and identification with our dream figure that makes the experience of death seem real. Within the framework of the dream, the ego’s thought system is logically consistent and seems true. However, from Spirit’s or Jesus’ perspective, “outside” the dream, it would be obvious that everything you thought was true was just a dream an illusion. Within their framework everything you thought was true was never true.—-Death is a decision!  No one dies without his own consent! ——Salvation is the recognition that the truth is true, and nothing else is true (ACIM, W-152.3:1)

Either God or the ego is insane. ²If you will examine the evidence on both sides fairly, you will realize this must be true. Neither God nor the ego proposes a partial thought system. ⁴Each is internally consistent, but they are diametrically opposed in all respects so that partial allegiance is impossible. ⁵Remember, too, that their results are as different as their foundations, and their fundamentally irreconcilable natures cannot be reconciled by vacillations between them. (ACIM, T-11.in.1:1-8)

Think for just a moment about how you judge: —-²Your judgment rests upon the witness that your senses offer you. ³Yet witness never falser was than this. ⁴But how else do you judge the world you see? ⁵You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report. ⁶You think your fingers touch reality, and close upon the truth. ⁷This is awareness that you understand, and think more real than what is witnessed to by the eternal Voice for God Himself. (ACIM, W-151.3:7).

Please consider the profound logic presented in Lesson-163!—-For death is total. ³Either all things die, or else they live and cannot die. ⁴No compromise is possible. ⁵For here again we see an obvious position, which we must accept if we be sane; what contradicts one thought entirely (death contracts life entirely) can not be true, unless its opposite (Life) is proven false. (ACIM, W-163.6:2-5)

If you want to be “right,” you will attempt to prove that death is real.—- Swear not to die, you holy Son of God! ²You make a bargain that you cannot keep. ³The Son of Life cannot be killed. ⁴He is immortal as his Father (ACIM, T-29.VI.2:1-4) — Please do not make the mistake of thinking the Course is saying—- do not die. It says do not swear that you will die, for you make a bargain that you cannot keep because you are not a body. —-The fear of God is fear of life, and not of death (ACIM, T-23.IV.1:2)

When your body and your ego and your dreams are gone, you will know that you will last forever. ²Perhaps you think this is accomplished through death, but nothing is accomplished through death, because death is nothing. ³Everything is accomplished through life, and life is of the mind and in the mind. ⁴The body neither lives nor dies, because it cannot contain you who are life. ⁵If we share the same mind, you can overcome death because I (Jesus) did (ACIM, T-6.V-A.1:1-5

In Gratitude and Love, Caryl

As always, please reach out to me directly with any questions or comments related to this essay or any of my essays at: carylbrowne@gmail.com