Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong (ACIM, T-1.I.6:1-2)

The Course is not something we merely talk about at certain times, like a good book or other activity. It is a fundamentally different perspective for understanding what the world is and who we are. One does not have to be taught who they are unless their state-of-mind is profoundly out of accord with their natural state. That is exactly what occurred with the belief in the separation. We have taught ourself to believe we are what we are not! Therefore, the Course teaches how to undo what we, as ego, have taught ourself. This would be impossible if we did not have the means to access our real thoughts, which is equally impossible. The Course refers to the “real world,” which is not Reality, it is a symbol for the opposite of what we made. —The real world holds a counterpart for each unhappy thought reflected in your world; a sure correction for the sights of fear and sounds of battle which your world contains. (ACIM, W-pII.8.2:1)

The ego cares only about  form and pays no attention to content or meaning. Spirit always teaches the truth behind the form. What gives the words I use their meaning is my purpose (content). And my purpose is determined by how I see myself and others: are we joined or separate. If I perceive we are joined as one, attack of any kind is impossible. If, however, I perceive we are separate, attack is inevitable. To the ego, reality is only what our senses report to us, just like in a dream. In your nighttime dreams, only the forms or figures in your dream seem real, when in fact the only reality is the dreamer (content), outside the dream. All of our time is spent in dreaming, which only seems real because we confuse form for content. —Your sleeping and your waking dreams have different forms, and that is all. ¹⁴Their content is the same. ¹⁵They are your protest against reality, and your fixed and insane idea that you can change it. ¹(ACIM, T-18.II.5:12-16)

Form has no meaning in itself. Your split or perceptual mind is not a tabula rasa, an empty slate. If you carefully observe your thinking process, you will notice there are core unexamined beliefs that form the foundation of your thought system.— Everyone teaches, and teaches all the time. ³This is a responsibility you inevitably assume the moment you accept any premise at all, and no one can organize his life without some thought system (ACIM, T-6.in.2:2-3) —.  Hardwired into the ego perceptual thought system is the idea you are born into a physical world and your thoughts emanate from your brain housed in a physical body. There is no mind, and the brain can only perceive images, or form. In the world of perception, awareness is interpretation, based on these beliefs. Without interpretation there would be no awareness, and without awareness form would not exist! It seems to exist because we do not notice that this process for “seeing” leads to image making, giving form to our thoughts. All thought produces form on some level. — What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. ²From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. ³These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own (ACIM, W-325.1:1-3)

We all want to believe that “humans” are basically good. Body images are not inherently good or bad, being form, they are nothing in themselves. Like all form, we give the body all the meaning it has for us.  If interpreted by the ego or the wrong-mind, the body will symbolize the separation. If interpreted by Spirit or the right-mind, the body can be seen as a means of communication for teaching truth. The question is never will we teach, only what we teach: truth or illusion; peace or fear.  For instance, if the body is used as a means of communication for truth, its value is self evident and will lead to peace. If, however, the body symbolizes a belief in the separation, that is what we will teach. This will lead to guilt and fear, which is always followed by projection.

All forms of behavior we deny in ourselves and deem undesirable, such as exploitation, corruption, cruelty, lying, attacking; or laziness, weakness, depression, anxiety etc.; are projected onto some aspect of our dream-world. If projected onto your body the attack could take the form of illness. The specific form of the attack does not matter: personal, social, economic or political. You may perceive yourself to be the victim or victimizer. The underlying purpose for all forms of perceived attack is to hide our guilt.—  Projection makes perception, and you cannot see beyond it. ⁶Again and again have you attacked your brother, because you saw in him a shadow figure in your private world. ⁷And thus it is you must attack yourself first, for what you attack is not in others. (ACIM, T-13.V.3:5-7)

Within the world as we currently perceive it, peace seems impossible. From our current perspective it would indeed take a miracle to experience sustained peace. And that is exactly what a miracle provides, a shift in perspective: from form to content, from illusion to truth. If your goal is truth, you will be empowered because you are dealing with the content or truth behind your experiences. If, however, you have a hidden agenda, you will see only meaningless forms, which blinds you to the truth. — Your judgment rests upon the witness that your senses offer you. ³Yet witness never falser was than this. You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report. ⁶You think your fingers touch reality, and close upon the truth. (ACIM, W-151.3:4-6)—- Peace is inevitable! However, if you resist correcting your mistaken perceptions you will continue to experience a fearful world, and peace will be impossible, but only then. —Defenses are not unintentional, nor are they made without awareness. ²They are secret, magic wands you wave when truth appears to threaten what you would believe.  (ACIM, W-136.3:1-4)

People often share that they can only practice the Course in certain situations and with certain people, sometimes. If you find yourself thinking this way, you are misunderstanding the Course. There can be no situation or circumstance which you cannot apply the Course’s teachings. It is not concerned with form or behavior, with what you or others say or do. It is an attitude, a belief about yourself and “others;” an awareness of who you really are. Believing there are exceptions merely means there are some forms of attack that are justified and some that are not. Put another way, you are harboring some thoughts of guilt you are afraid to look at.—  An unforgiving thought is one which makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true. ²The mind is closed, and will not be released. (ACIM, W-pII.1.2:1-2)

In order to avoid the temptation of making exceptions, which inevitably become the rule, it is very important that we take a stand for truth. —We take a stand on but one side today. ³We side with truth and let illusions go. ⁴We will not vacillate between the two, but take a firm position with the One. (ACIM, W-98.1:2-4).—  By taking a stand for the truth we assure that all mistaken wrong-minded ego thoughts will be corrected.—  The value of deciding in advance what you want to happen is simply that you will perceive the situation as a means to make it happen. (ACIM, T-17.VI.4:1)— The Course shows us, not just that we can redirect our wrong-minded thoughts, but how to do so.  It also tells us how to recognize when we have made a mistake and the means for correction.

When you perceive something as a miracle you are looking from the ego’s perspective, from which right-minded thinking is perceived as unnatural. The experiences emanating from right-minded thinking seem like a miracle because they are not governed by the laws of the ego thought system. It is corrected perception or seeing the meaning hidden behind the ego’s meaningless forms. You are seeing things as they really are, not as you wanted to believe. From this perspective you are not a figure in your dream, you are the observer/decision maker, the dreamer of the dream of separation, outside the dream (see model-of-mind.) The form of the situations you experience do not necessarily change but your interpretation, and therefore your reaction and emotional response, definitely will. Where you experienced fear or some negative emotion, you will experience peace. In other words, your relationship to the world has shifted from being at the effect of the world to being cause. In every situation ask yourself honestly: what is my purpose, what is it for? Your purpose will determine the outcome, and vice versa. If your goal was peace, you will experience peace. If you experience any fear or doubt, your purpose was to hide your guilt by projecting it onto the world. —  Do not be afraid to look within. ²The ego tells you all is black with guilt within you, and bids you not to look. ³Instead, it bids you look upon your brothers, and see the guilt in them. (ACIM, T-13.IX.8:1-3- —The ego’s real fear is that when you look within, all you will experience is Love.

This shift in perspective, although simple, is not easy. Like the nuclear or strong force which holds the nucleus of an atom together and is the strongest of the fundamental forces in nature; guilt is the psychological force maintaining our belief in the illusion or dream-world. Such is the power of belief. —It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains. (ACIM, T-2.VI.9:8)— In truth both the nuclear force and guilt are illusions or misuse of the power of mind. Perception is a very fragmented mode of thinking and part of the ego’s arsenal of defenses, along with the trio of sin, guilt and fear. —⁶Although perception of any kind is unreal, you made it and the Holy Spirit can therefore use it well (ACIM, T-6.II.9:6)

By taking a stand for truth, you are expressing your willingness to perceive another perspective on who you are and what the world is. —The miracle is taken first on faith, because to ask for it implies the mind has been made ready to conceive of what it cannot see and does not understand. ²Yet faith will bring its witnesses to show that what it rested on is really there. ³And thus the miracle will justify your faith in it, and show it rested on a world more real than what you saw before; a world redeemed from what you thought was there (ACIM, W-pII.13.4:1-3)

In Peace and Love, Caryl
For comment or questions contact me at carylbrowne@gmail.com