Thank you Susan.Quote:
Originally Posted by susan
Love
ia
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Thank you Susan.Quote:
Originally Posted by susan
Love
ia
WHAT IS A MIRACLE?
A miraclee is a correction. I does not create, nor really change at
all. It merely looks on devastation. and reminds the mind that what
it sees is false. It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond
perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness. Thus it stays
within time´s limits. Yet it paves the way for the return of
timelessness and love´s awakening, for fear must slip away under
the gentle remedy it brings.
A miracle contains the gift of grace, for it is given and received
as one. And thus it illustrates the law of truth the world does not
obey, because it fails entirely to understand its ways. A miracle
inverts perception which was upside down before, and thus it ends
the strange distortions that were manifest. Now is perception open
to the truth. Now is forgiveness seen as justified.
Forgiveness is the home of miracles. The eyes of Christ deliver
them to all they look upon in mercy and in love. Perception stands
corrected in His sight, and what was meant to curse has come to
bless. Each lily of forgiveness offers all the World the silent miracle
of love. And each is laid before the Word of God, upon the universal
altar to Creator and Creation in the light of perfect purity and endless joy.
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. Yet faith will bring its witnesses to show that what it rested
on is really there. And 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.
Miracles fall like drops of healing rain from Heaven on a dry and dusty
world, where starved and thirsty creatures come to die. Now they have
water. Now the world is green. And everywhere the signs of life spring
up, to show that what is born can never die, for what has life has immortality.
LESSON 341
"I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe."
"Father, Your Son is holy. I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness
so dear and Deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your
Holiness. How pure, how safe, and holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile,
with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and
Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness
conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him."
Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us.
And in its kind reflection we are saved.
Love
:-) Yes, thank you Tim, I will write more, but I am now Crying so much that I can´t see the computor screenQuote:
Originally Posted by Timothy
Love
ia
Sorry to hear about your father's 'passing' ia, wishing you all love, peace & comfort
LESSON 342
"I let forgiveness rest upon all things, for thus forgiveness will be given me."
"I thank You Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I
made. It is not real. And You have given me the means to prove its
unreality to me. The key is in my hand, and I reached the door
beyond which lies the end of dreams. I stand before the gate of
Heaven, wondering if I should enter it and be at home. Let me not
wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let Creation be as
You would have it be and as it is. Le me remember that I am Your
Son, and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing
light of truth, as memory of Your returns to me."
Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with
me. And as we go, the world goes with us on our way to God.
Love
Thank you newfreedom.Quote:
Originally Posted by newfreedom
Love
ia
Yes YesQuote:
Originally Posted by IA56
LESSON 343
"I am not asked to make a sacrifice
To find the mercy and the peace of God."
"The end of suffering can not be loss. The gift of everything can
be but gain. You only give. You never taka away. And You created
me to be like You, so sacrifice becomes impossible for me as well as
You. I, too, must give. And so all things are given unto me forever
and forever. As I was created I remain. Your Son can make no
sacrifice, for he must be complete, having the function of completing
You. I am complete because I am Your Son. I cannot lose, for I can
only give, and everything is mine eternally."
The mercy and the peace of God are free. Salvation has no cost. It
is a gift that must be freely given and received. And it is this that we
would learn today.
Love
Thank you Tim for your short answer ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy
I have felt father´s child like awe that he is still alive :-)
Your answer did open up so much in me that tears did invade me, the only thing what did spoil my happiness was my sister,
I did show her your answer the first reaction, she was interesting because she thought it was to father, but when it was to me,
she said, I do not understand a word, and then she did not want to listen to the song at all, she went to kitchen to do something
but listen.....she did not understand my tears what was of joy over your answer, thank you Tim.
Father is in child like ave :-)
Love
ia
LESSON 344
"Today I learn the law of love; that what
I give my brother is my gift to me."
"This is Your law, my Father, not my own. I have understood
what giving means, and thought to save what I desired for myself
alone. And as I looked upon the treasure that I thought I had, I
found an empty place where nothing ever was or is or will be. Who
can share a dream? And what can an illusion offer me? Yet he
whom I forgive will give me gifts beyond the worth of anything on
earth. Let my forgiven brothers fill my store with Heaven´s
treasures, which alone are real. Thus is the law of love fulfilled.
And thus Your Son arises and returns to You."
How near we are to one another, as we go to God. How near is
He to us. How Close the ending of the dream of sin, and the
redemption of the Son of God.
Love
Dear IA, I'm so sorry about your father :( sending you loving thoughts.
Thank you dear dontco :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by dontco
Love
ia
LESSON 345
"I offer only miracles today,
For I would have them be returned to me."
"Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts to me. Your Son. And every
one I give returns to me, reminding me the law of love is universal.
Even here, it takes a form which can be recognized and seen to
work. The miracles I give are given back in just the form I need to
help me with the problems I perceive, Father, in Heaven it is
different, for there, there are no needs. But here on earth, the
miracles is closer to Your gifts than any other gift that I can give.
Then let me give this gift alone today, which, born of true forgiveness,
lights the way that I must travel to remember you."
Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer
miracles to bless the tired world. It will find rest today, for we will
offer what we have received.
Love
LESSON 346
"Today the peace of God envelops me,
And I forget all things except His Love."
"Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my preception of
all things. And so begins the day I share with You as I will share
eternity, for time has stepped aside today. I do not seek the things of
time, and so I will not look upon them. What I seek today transcends
all laws of time and things perceived in time. I would forget all things
except Your Love. I would abide in You, and know no laws except
Your law of love. And I would find the peace which You created for
Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys I made as I behold Your glory
and my own."
And when the evening comes today, we will remember nothing but
the peace of God. For we will learn today what peace is ours, when
we forget all things except God´s Love.
Love
LESSON 347
"Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is
The weapon I would use against myself,
To keep the miracles away from me."
"Father, I want what goes against my will, and do not want what
is my will to have. Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick. But
You have offered freedom, and I choose to claim Your gift today.
And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for
me. He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth. He looks on
pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding
it is healed. He gives the miracles my dreams would hide from my
awareness. Let Him judge today. I do not know my will, but He is
sure it is Your Own. And He will speak for me, and call Your miracles
to come to me."
Listen today. Be very still, and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring
you that He has judged you as the Son He loves.
Love
LESSON 348
"I have no cause for anger or for fear,
For You surround me. And in every need
That I perceive, Your grace suffices me."
"Father, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone.
Surrounding me is everlasting Love. I have no cause for anything
except the perfect Peace and joy I share with You. What need have I
for anger or for fear? Surrounding me is perfect safety. Can I be
afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is
perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness
as perfect as Your Own?"
God´s grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do.
And only that we choose to be our will as well as His.
Love
LESSON 349
"Today I let Christ´s vision look upon
All things for me and judge them not, but give
Each one a miracle of love instead."
"So would I liberate things I see, and give them the freedom
that I seek. For thus do I obey the law of love, and give what I
would find and make my own. It will be given me, because I have
chosen it as the gift I want to give. Father, Your gifts are mine. Each
one that I accept given me a miracle to give. And giving as I would
receive, I learn Your healing miracles belong to me."
Our Father knows our needs. He gives us grace to meet them all.
And so we trust in Him to send us miracles to bless the world, and
heal our minds as we return to Him.
Love
LESSON 350
"Miracle mirror God´s eternal Love.
To offer them is to remember Him,
And through His memory to save the world."
"What we forgive becomes a part of us, as we perceive ourselves.
The Son of God incorporates all things within himself as You
created him. Your memory depends on his forgiveness. What he is,
is unaffected by his thoughts. But what he looks upon is their direct
result. Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory
will set me free. And only my forgiveness teaches me to let Your
memory return to me, and give it to the world in thankfulness."
And as we gather miracles from Him, we will indeed be grateful.
For as we remember Him, His Son will be restored to us in the
reality of Love.
Love
WHAT AM I?
"I am God´s Son, complete and healed and whole, shining in the
reflection of His Love. In me is His Creation sanctified and
guaranteed eternal life. In me is love perfected, fear impossible,
and joy established without opposite. I am the holy home of God
Himself. I am the Heaven where His Love resides. I am His holy
Sinlessness Itself, for in my purity abides His Own."
Our use for words is almost over now. Yet in the final days of this
one year we gave to God together, you and I, we found a single
purpose that we shared. And thus you joined with me, so what I am
are you as well. The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of
nor describe. Yet we can realize our function here, and Words can
speak of this and teach it, too, if we exemplify the words in us.
We are the bringers of salvation. We accept our part as saviors of
the world, which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed. And
this, our gifts, is therefore given us. We look on everyone as brothers,
and perceive all things as kindly and as good. We do not seek a
function that is part the gate of Heaven. Knowledge will return when
we have done our part. We are concerned only with giving welcome
to the truth.
Ours are the eyes through which Christ´s vision sees a World
redeemed from every thought of sin. Ours are the ears that hear
the Voice of God proclaim the world as sinless. Ours the mind that
join together as we bless the world. And from the oneness that we have
attained we call to all our Brothers, asking them to share our peace
and consummate our joy.
We are the holy Messengers of God who speak for Him, and carrying
His Word to everyone whom He has sent to us, we learn that it is written
on our hearts. And thus our minds are changed about the aim for which
we came, and which we seek to serve. We bring glad tidings to the Son
of God, who thought he suffered. Now is he redeemed. And as he sees
the gate of Heaven stand open before him, he will enter in and disappear
into the Heart of God.
LESSON 351
"My sinless brother is my guide to peace.
My sinful brother is my guide to pain.
And which I choose to see I will behold."
"Who is my brother but Your holy Son? And if I see him sinful I
proclaim myself a sinner, not a Son of God; alone and friendless in a
fearful world. Yet this perception is a choice I make, and can relinquish.
I can also see my brother sinless, as Your holy Son. And with this choice
I see my sinlessness my everlasting Comforter and Friend beside me,
and my way secure and clear. Choose, them, for me, my Father, through
Your Voice. For He alone gives judment in Your Name."
Love
LESSON 352
"Judgment and love are opposites. From one
come all the sorrows of the world. But from
the other comes the Peace of God Himself."
"Forgiveness looks on sinlessness alone, and judges not. Through
this I come to You. Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind.
Yet love, reflected in forgivneness here, reminds me You have given
me way to find Your peace again. I am redeemed when I elect to
follow in this way. You have not left me comfortless. I have within
me both the memory of You, and One Who leads me to it. Father, I
would hear Your Voice and find Your peace today.For I would love
my own Identity, and find in It the memory of You."
Love
LESSON 353
"My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today
have but one purpose; to be given Christ
to use to bless the world with miracles."
"Father, I give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way
that best will serve the purpose that I share with Him. Nothing is
mine alone, for He and I have joined in purpose. Thus has learning
come almost to its appointed end. A while I work with Him to serve
His purpose. Then I lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that
Christ is but my Self."
Love
LESSON 354
"We stand together, Christ and I, in peace
and certainly of purpose. And in Him
is His Creator, as He is in me."
"My oneness with the Christ establishes me as Your Son, beyond
the reach of time, and wholly free of every law but Yours. I have no
self except the Christ in me. I have no purpose but His Own. And He
is like His Father. Thus must I be one with You as well as Him. For
who is Christ except Your Son as You created Him? And what am I
except the Christ in me?
Love
LESSON 355
"There is no end to all the peace and joy,
and all the miracles that I will give,
when I accept God´s Word. Why not today?"
"Why should I wait, my Father, for the joy You promised me?
For YOu will keep Your Word You gave Your Son in exile. I am sure
my treasure waits for me, and I need but reach out my hand to find
it. Even now my fingers touch it. It is very Close, I need not wait an
instant more to be at peace forever. It is You I choose, and my
Identity along with You. Your Son would be Himself, and know
You as his Father and Creator, and his Love."
Love
LESSON 356
"Sickness is but another name for sin.
Healing is but another name for God.
The miracles is thus a call to Him."
"Father, You promised You would never fail to answer any call
Your Son might make to You. It does not matter where he is, what
seems to be his problem, nor what he believes he has become. He is
Your Son, and You will answer him. The miracle reflects Your Love,
and thus it answers him. Your Name replaces every thought of sin,
and who is sinless cannot suffer pain. Your Name gives answer to
Your Son, because to call Your Name is but to call his own."
Love
LESSON 357
"Truth answers every call we make to God,
responding first with miracles, and then
returning unto us to be itself."
"Forgiveness, truth´s reflection, tells me how to offer miracles,
and thus escape the prison house in which I Think I live. Your holy
Son is pointed out to me, first in my brother; then in me. Your
Voice instructs me patiently to hear Your Word, and give as I
receive. And as I look upon Your Son today, I hear Your Voice
instructing me to find the way to You, as You appointed that the
way shall be:
`Behold his sinlessness, and be your healed`"
Love
LESSON 358
"No call to God can be unheard nor left
unanswered. And of this I can be sure;
His answer is the only I really want."
My dear mother passed away yesterday at 19.50, it is unbelieveble, but true.
"You Who remember what I really am alone remember what I
really want. You speak for God, and so You speak to me. And
what You give me comes from God Himself. Your Voice, my
Father, then is mine as well, and all I want is what You offer me, in
just the form You choose that it be mine. Let me remember all I do
not know, and let my voice be still, remembering. But let me not
forget Your Love and care, keeping Your promise to Your Son in
my avareness always. Let me not forget myself is nothing, but my
Self is all."
Love
IA,
What? OMG!! I'm so sorry for your loss of of your mother. ...on top of you just losing your father.
I myself am dealing with a near death incident of someone close to me.
LOVE
Oh IA, you poor dear. Finding words to say to you is hard as I had 6 years between the death of both parents. Having to handle both so close is dreadful.
One thing I will say is that from the feelings of loneliness and slight fear and vulnerability as my teachers, mentors, confidants, fixers, helpers had been taken away , in time this made me a stronger person.
I hope you will find this strength.
LESSON 359
"God´s answer is some form of Peace. All pain
is healed; all misery replaced with joy.
All prison doors are opened. And all sin
is understood as merely a mirstake."
"Father, today we will forgive Your world, and let Creation be
Your Own. We have misunderstood all things. But we have not
made sinners of the holy Sons of God. What You created sinless so
abides forever and forever. Such are we. And we rejoice to learn
that we have made mistakes which have no real effects on us. Sin is
impossible, and on this fact forgiveness rests upon a certain base
more solid than the shadow world we see. Help us forgive, for we
would be redeemed. Help us forgive, for we would be at Peace."
Love
Thank you Tim, 18 days between fathers and mothers death, it is tough. I send love and strength for your loss.Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy
Love
ia
Thank you Susan for your support.Quote:
Originally Posted by susan
Love
ia
LESSON 360
"Peace be to me, the holy Son of God.
Peace to my brother, who is one with me.
Let all the world be blessed with peace through us."
"Father, it is Your peace that I would give, receiving it of You. I
am Your Son, forever just as You created me, for the Great Rays
remain forever still and undisturbed within me. I would reach to
them in silence and in certainty, for nowhere else can certainty be
found. peace be to me, and peace to all the world. In holiness were
we created, and in holiness do we remain. Your Son is like to You in
perfect sinlessness. And with this thought we gladly say 'Amen'."
Love
Hi Susan,Quote:
Originally Posted by susan
I wanted tell this yesterday but was not able to write so much because of my tears filling my eyes and made me unable to see, but I feel a strong urge to tell you this.
I do not know how much you know about me and my inner work, but I have bean working intensivly since 1981 after the big beating of me, to understand our humans behavings towards each others.
Now when my parents are gone, and me being done the work in forgiveness towards them and towards others too off course, my parents did make the last release if I can put it this way, the last release of my sadness to have bean badly treated and healed it away from me....I am so relieved in my inner...I feel light and healed in my inner....I have my body pain that is the same, but I have forgive and I am forgiven....it is hard to explain this feeling in midts of my grief of my loss of my parents, I have now very deep understanding that they have a very deep peace now too..and that it is a two way street....my grief is not giving me any pain but total relief and deep understanding...I was able to work my pain what I feel is caused by my parents and the upbringing with them, I feel now and understand why I had them as my parents...we did this work togeather, not in the physical but, they never told me about them really working with theires inner in the energy level, but now I know, I would not have bean clear and done if they not have done theires part, I feel they did and I am in such a deep awe....and in such a gratitude to feeling their deep gratitude towards me, we did it together...Thank you and Amen. We have given peace to each others, thank you and rest in peace for ever and I am happy you made it too...
Love
ia
THE LAST LESSONS
Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible.We use
them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us
that we seek to go beyond them. Let us turn to Him Who leads the
way and makes our footsteps sure. To Him we leave these lessons,
as to Him we give our lives henceforth. For we would not return again
to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking
and destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the
hope of trust and the escape from pain.
His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us. It is His way
tht everyone must travel in the end, because it is this ending God Himself
appointed. In the Dream of time it seems to be far off. And yet, in truth, it is
already here; already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go. Let
us together follow in the way that truth points out to us. And let us be the
leaders of our many Brothers who are seeking for the way, but find it not.
And to this purpose let us dedicate our minds, directing all our thoughts to
serve the function of salvation. Unto us the aim is given to forgive the World.
It is the goal that God has given us. It is His ending to the Dream we seek,
and not our own. For all that we forgive we will not fail to recongize as part
of God Himself. And thus His memory is given back, completely and complete.
It is our function to remember Him on Earth, as it is given us to be His Own
completion in rerality. So let us not forget our goal is shared, for it is that
rememberance which contains the memory of God, and Points the way to Him
and to the Heaven of His peace. And shall we not forgive our brother, who can
offer this to us? He is the way, the truth and life that shows the way to us.
In him resides salvation, offered us through our forgiveness, given unto him.
We will not end this year without the gift our Father promised to His holy Son.
We are forgiven now. And we are saved from all that wrath we thought belongs
to God, and found it was a dream.
We are restored to sanity, in which we understand that anger is insane, attack
is mad, and vengeance merely foolish fantasy. We have been saved from wrath
because we learned we were mistaken.
Nothing more than that. And is a father angry at his son because he failed to
understand the truth?
We come in honesty to God and say we did not understand, and ask Him to help
us to learn His lessons, through the Voice of His Own Teacher. Would He hurt His Son?
Or would He rush to answer him, and say, "This is my Son, and all I have is his?" Be
certain He will answer thus, for these are His Own Words to you.
And more than that can no one ever have, for in the Words is all there is, and all that
there will be throughout all time and in eternity.
LESSONS 361 - 365
"This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in change. For I would follow You.
Certain that Your direction give me peace."
And I need a word to help me. He will give it to me. If I need a
thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a
tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in
charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He
speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.
EPILOQUE
This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you.
You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain.
Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has answer, and will
gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him.
He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that
seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and
resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him,
and it will be given you.
You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun
laid down Before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in
between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not
be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to
Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted
as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need.
His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of
freedom and of truth.
No more specific lessons aree assigned, for there is no more need of
them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice of God and for your Self when
you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your
efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and
when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure directions and
His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the
Word you chose to be your own.
And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful followers, with Him
as Guide through every difficutly and all pain that you may think is real.
Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the
eternal and the good. Let Him prepare your further. He has earned your
trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self.
He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go;
as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal,
and of your safe arrival in the end.
The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen."
You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make.
And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you
not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we
walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure
direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has
held unclosed to welcome us.
We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen."
In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait
His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God´s Son as we would
love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does.
You do not walk alone. God´s angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you,
and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfotless.
In this book there are a manual for teachers, is there any interest for it, if there is, then I will continue to write it here too.
Love
IA,
Please do continue...is very interesting. ;)
MANUAL FOR TEACHERS
Introduction
The role of teaching and learning is actually reversed in the
thinking of the world. The reversal is characteristic. It seems as if the
teacher and the learner are separated, the teacher giving something to
the learner rather than to himself. Further, the act of teaching is
regarded as a special activity, in which one engages only a relatively
small proportion of one´s time. The course, on the other hand , empasizes
that to teach is to learn, so that teacher and learner are the same. It also
emhpasizes that teaching is a constant process; it goes on every moment
of the day, and continues into sleeping thoughts as well.
To teach is to demonstrate. There are only two thought systems, and you
demonstrate that you believe one or the other is true all the time. From your
demonstration others learn, and so do you. The question is not whether you
will teach, for in that there is no choice. The purpose of the course might be said
to provide you with a means of choosing what you want to teach on the basis of
what you want to learn. You cannot give to someone else, but only to yourself, and
this you learn through teaching. Teaching is but a call to witnesses to attest to what
you believe. It is a method of conversion. This is not done by words alone. Any
situation must be to a chance to teach others what you are, and what they are to
you. No more than that, but also never less.
The curriculum you set up is therefore determined exclusively by what you think
you are, and what you believe the relationship of others is to you. In the formal
teaching situation, the questions may be totally unrelated to what you think you
are teaching. Yet it is impossible not to use the content of any situation on behalf
of what you really teach, and therefore really learn. To this the verbal content of
your teaching is quite irrelevant. It may concider with it, or it may not. It is the
teaching underlying what you say that teaches you. Teaching but reinforces what
you believe about yourself. Its fundamental purpose is to diminish self doubt. This
does not mean that the self you are trying to protect is real. But it does mean that
the self you think is real is what you teach.
This is inevitable. There is no escape from it. How could it be otherwise? Everyone
who follows the world´s curriculum, and everyone here does follow it until he changes
his mind, teaches solely to convince himself that he is what he is not. Herein is the
purpose of the world. What else, then, would its curriculum be? Into this hopless and
closed learning situation, which teaches nothing but despair and death. God sends
His teachers. And as they teach His lessons of joy and hope, their learning finally
becomes complete. Except for God´s teachers there would be little hope of salvation,
for the world of sin would seem forever real. The self-deceiving must deceive, for they
must teach deception. And what else is hell? This is a manual for the teachers of God.
They are not perfect, or they would not be here. Yet it is their mission to become perfect
here, and so they teach perfection over and over, in many, many ways, until they have
learned it. And then they are seen no more, although their thoughts remain a source of
strength and truth forever. Who are they? How are they chosen? What do they do? How
can they work out their own salvation and the salvation of the world? This manual attempts
to answer these questions.
Love
WHO ARE GOD´S TEACHERS?
A teacher of God is anyone who chooses to be one. His
qualifications consist solely in this; somehow, somewhere he has
made a deliberate choice in which he did not see his interests as apart
from someone else´s. Once he has done that, his road is established
and his directions is sure. A light has entered the darkness. it may be a
single light, but that is enough. He has entered an agreement with God
even if he does not yet believe in Him. He has become a bringer of
salvation. He has become a teachewr of God.
They come from all over the world. They come from all religions and from
no religion. They are the ones who have answered. The Call is universal.
It goes on all the time everywhere. It calls for teachers to speak for It and
redeem the world. Many hear It, but few will answer. Yet it is all a matter
of time. Everyone will answer in the end, but the end can be a long, long
way off. It is because of this that the plan of the teachers was established.
Their function is to save time. Each one begins as a single light, but with
the Call at its center it is a light that cannot be limited. And each one saves
a thousand years of time as the world judges it. To the Call Itself time has
no meaning.
There is a course for every teacher of God. The form of the course varies
greatly. So do the particular teaching aids involved. But the content of the
course never changes. Its central theme is always, "God´s Son is guiltless,
and in his innocence is his salvation." It can be taught by actions or thoughts;
in words or soundlessly; in any language or in no language; in any place or
time or manner. It does not matter who the teacher was before he heard the
Call. He has become a savior by his answering. He has seen someone else as
himself. He has therefore found his own salvation and the salvation of the world.
In his rebirth is the world reborn.
This is a manual for a special curriculum, intended for teachers of a special form
of the universal course. There are many thousands of other forms, all with the same
outcome. They merely save time. Yet it is time alone that winds on wearily, and the
world is very tired now. It is old and worn and without hope. There was never a question
of outcome, for what can change the Will of God? But time, with its illusions of change
and death, wears out the world and all things in it. Yet time has an ending, and it is this
that the teachers of God are appointed to bring about. For time is in their hands. Such
was their choice, and it is given them.
Love
WHO ARE THEIR PUPILS?
Certain pupils have been assigned to each of God´s teachers, and
they will begin to look for him as soon as he has answered the Call.
They were chosen for him because the form of the universal curriculum
that he will teach is best for them in view of their level of understanding.
His pupils have been waiting for him, for his coming is certain. Again, it
is only a matter of time. Once he has chosen to fulfill his role, they are
ready to fulfill theirs. Time waits on his choice, but not on whom he will
serve: When he is ready to learn, the opportunities to teach will be
provided for him.
In order to understand the teaching-learning plan of salvation, it is
necessary to grasp the concept of time that the course sets forth.
Atonement corrects illusions, not truth. Therefore, it corrects what
never was. Further, the plan for this correction was established and
completed simultaneously, for the Will of God is entirely apart from
time. So is all reality, being of Him. The instant the idea of separation
entered the mind of God´s Son, in that same instant was God´s
Answer given. In time this happened very long ago. In reality it never
happened at all.
The world of time is the world of illusion. What happened long ago
seems to be happening now. Choices made long since appear to be
öpen; yet to be made. What has been learned and understood and long
ago passed by is looked upon as a new thought, a fresh idea, a different
approach. Because your will is free you can accept what has already
happened at any time you choose, and only then will your realize that it
was always there. As the course emphasizes, you are not free to choose
the curriculum, or even the form in which you will learn it. You are free,
however, to decide when you want to learn it. And as you accept it, it is
already learned.
Time really, then, goes backward to an instant so ancient that it is beyond
all memory, and past even the possibillity of remembering. Yet because it
is an instant that is relived again and again and still again, it seems to be now.
And thus it is that pupil and teacher seem to come together in the present,
finding each other as if they had not met before. The pupil comes at the right
time to the right place. This is inevitable, because he made the right choice in
that ancient instant which he now relives. So has the teacher, too, made an
inevitable choice in that ancient instant which he now relieves. So has the
teacher, too, made an inevitable choice out of an ancient past. God´s Will
in everything but seems to take time in the working-out. What could delay
the power of eternity?
When pupil and teacher come together, a teaching-learning situation begins.
For the teacher is not really the one who does the teaching. God´s Teacher
speak to any two who join together for learning purposes. The relationship
is holy because of that purpose, and God has promised to send His Spirit
into any holy relationship. In the teaching-learning situation, each one learns
that giving and receiving are the same. The demarcations they have drawn
between their roles, the minds, their bodies, their needs, their interests, and
all the differences they thought separated them from one another, fade and grow
dim an disappear. Those who would learn the same course share one interest
and one goal. And thus he who was the learner becomes a teacher of God himself,
for he has made the one decision that gave his teacher to him. He has seen in
another person the same interests as his own.
Love
'
WHAT ARE THE LEVELS OF THEACHING?
The teachers of God have not set teaching level. Each teaching-learning
situation involves a different relationship at the beginning, although the
ultimate goal is Always the same; to make of the relationship a holy
relationship, in which both can look upon the Son of God as sinless.
There is no one from whom a teacher of God cannot learn, so there is
no one whom he cannot teach. However, from a practical point of view
he cannot meet everyone, nor can everyone find him. Therefore, the plan
includes very specific contacts to be made for each teacher of God. There
are no accidents in salvation. Those who are to meet will meet, because
together they have the potential for a holy relationship. They are ready for
each other.
The simplest level of teaching appears to be quite superficial. It consists of
what seem to be very casual encounters; a "chance" meeting of two apparent
strangers in a elevator, a child who is not looking where he is going running
into a adult "by chance," two students "happening" to walk home together.
These are not chance encounters. Each of them has the potnetial for becoming
a teaching-learning situation. Perhaps the seeming stranges in the elevator will
smile to one Another; perhaps the adult will not scold the child for bumping into
him; perhpas the student will become friends. Even at the level of the most casual
encounter, it is possible for two people to lose sight of separate interest, if only for
a moment. That moment will be enough. Salvation has come.
It is difficult to understand that levels of teaching the universal course is a concept
as meaningless in reality as is time. The illusion of one permits the illusion of the other.
In time, the teacher of God seems to begin to change his mind about the World with a
single decision, and then learns more and more about the new direction as he teaches it.
We have covered the illusion of time already, but the illusion of levels of teaching seems
to be something different. Perhaps the best way to demonstrate that these levels cannot
exist is simply to say that any level of the teaching-learning situation is part of God´s
plan for Atonement, and His plan can have no levels, being a reflection of His Will.
Salvation is already ready and always there. God´s teachers work at different levels, but
the result is always the same.
Each teaching-learning situation is maximal in the sense that each person involves will
learn the most that he can from the other person at that time. In this sense, and in this
sense only, we can speak of levels of teaching. Using the term in his way, the second
level of teaching is a more sustained relationship, in which, for a time, two people enter
into a fairly intense teaching-learning situation and then appear to separate. As with the
first level, these meetings are not accidental, nor is what appears to be the end of the
relationship a real end. Again, each has learned the most he can at the time. Yet alll who
meet will someday meet again, for it is the destiny of all relationships to become holy.
God is not mistaken in His Son.
The third level of teaching occurs in realtionships which, once they are formed, are lifelong.
These are teaching-learning situations in which each person a given a chosen learning
partner who presents him with unlimited opportunities for learning. These relationships are
generally few, because their existence implies that those involved have reached a stage
simultaneoulsy in which the teaching-learning balance is actually perfect. This does not mean
that they necessarily recongnize this; in fact, they generally do not. They may even be quite
hostile to each other for some time, and perhaps for life. Yet should they decide to learn it,
the perfect lesson is Before them and can be learned. And if they decide to learn that lesson,
they become the saviors of the teachers who falter and may even seem to fail. No teacher
of God can fail to find the Help he needs.
Love
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD´S TEACHERS?
The surface traits of God´s teachers are not at all alike. They do not
look alike to the body´s eyes, they come from vastly different backgrounds,
their experiences of the world vary greatly, and their superficial "personalities"
are quite distinct. Nor, at the beginning stages of their functioning as teachers
of God, have they as yet acquired the deeper characteristics that will establish
them as what they are. God gives special gifts to His teachers, because they
have a special role in his plan for Atonement. Their specialness is, of course,
only temporary; set in time as a means of leading out of time. These special
gifts, born in the holy relationship toward which the teaching-learning situation
is geared, become characteristic of all teachers of God who have advanced
in their own learning. In this respect they are all alike.
All differences among the Sons of God are temporary. Nevertheless, in time
it can be said that the advanced teachers of God have the following chracteristics:
1 TRUST
This is the foundation on which their ability to fulfill their function rests. Perception
is the result of learning. In fact, perception is learning, because cause and effect are
never spearated. The teachers of God have trust in the world, because they have
learned it is not governed by the laws the world made up. It is governed by a Power
That is in them but not of them. It is this Power That keeps all things safe. It is through
this Power that the teachers of God look on a forgiven world.
When this Power has once been experienced, it is impossible to trust one´s own petty
strength again. Who would attempt to fly with the tiny wings of a sparrow when the mighty
power of an eagle has been given him? And who would place his faith in the shabby offerings
of the ego when the gifts of God are laid before him? What is it that induces them to make the shift?
Love
Development of trust
First, they must go through what might be called "a period of undoing."
This need not be painful, but it usually is so experienced It seems as if
things are being taken away, and it is rarely understood initially that
their lack of value is merely being recognized. How can lack of value be
perceived unless the perceiver is in a position where he must see things
in a different light? He is not yet a point at which he can make the shift
entirely internally. And so the plan will sometimes call for changes in
seem to be external circumstances. These changes are always helpful.
When the teacher of God has learned that much, he goes on to the
second stage.
Next, the teacher of God must go through "a period of sorting out-" This
is always somewhat difficult because, having learned that the changes
in his life are always helpful, he must now decide all things on the basis
of whether they increase the helpfulness or hamper it. He will find that
many, if not most of the things he valued before will merely hinder his
ability to transfer what he has learned to new situations as they arise.
Because he has valued what is really valueless, he will not generalize
the lesson for fear of loss and sacrifice. It takes great learning to
understand that all things, events, encounters and circumstances are
helpful. It is only to the extent to which they are helpful that any degree
of reality should be accorded them in this world of illusion. The word "value"
can apply to nothing else.
The third stage through which the teacher of God must go can be called
"a period of relinquishment." If this is interpreted as giving up the desirable,
it will engender enormous conflict. Few teachers of God escape this distress
entirely. There is, however, no point in sorting out the valuable from the
valueless unless the next obvious step taken. Therefore, the period of overlap
is apt to be one in which the teacher of God feels called upon to sacrifice his
own best interests of behalf of truth. He has not realized as yet how wholly
impossible such a demand would be. He can learn this only as he actually
does give up the valueless. Through this, he learns that where he anticipated
grief, he finds a happy lightheartedness instead; where he thought sometimes
was asked of him, he finds a gift bestowed on him.
Now comes "a period of settling down." This is a quiet time, in which the teacher
of God rests a while in reasonable peace. Now he consolidates his learning. Now
he begins to see the transfer value of what he has learned. Its potential is literally
staggering, and the teacher of God is now at the point in his progress at which he
sees in it his whole way out. "Give up what you do not want, and keep what you do."
How simple is the obvious! And how easy to do! The teacher of God needs this
period of respite. He has not yet come as far as he thinks. Yet when he is ready
to go on, he goes with mighty companions beside him. Now he rests a while, and
gathers them before going on. He will not go on from here alone.
The next stage is indeed "a period of unsettling." Now must the teacher of God
understand that he did not really know what was valuable and what was valueless.
All that he really learned so far was that he did not want the valueless, and that
he did want the valuable. Yet his own sorting out was meaningless in teaching
him the difference. The idea of sacrifice, so central to his own thought system,
had made it impossible for him to judge. He thought he learned willingness,
but now he sees that he does not know what the willingness is for. And now
he must attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time.
He must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what he really wants in every
circumstance. Were not each step in this direction so heavily reinforced, it would
be hared indeed!
And finally, there is "a period of achievement." It is here that learning is consolidated.
Now what was seen as merely shadows before become solid gains, to be counted
on in all "emergencies" as well as tranquil times. Indeed, the tranquility is their result;
the outcome of honest learning, consistency of thought and full transfer. This is the
stage of real peace, for here is Heaven´s state fully reflected. From here, the way
to Heaven is open and easy. In fact, it is here. Who would "go" anywhere, if peace
of mind is already complete? And who would seek to change tranquility for something
more desirable? What could be more desirable than this?
Love
2 Honesty
All other traits of God´s teachers rest on trust. Once that has been
achieved, the others cannot fail to follow. Only the trusting can
afford honesty, for only they can see its value. Honesty does not
apply only to what you say. The term actually means consistency.
There is nothing you say that contradicts what you think or do; no
thought opposes any other thought; no act belies your word; and
no word lacks agreement with another. Such are the truly honest.
At no level are they in conflict with themselves. Therefore it is
impossible for them to be in conflict with anyone or anything.
The peace of mind which the advanced teachers of God experience
is largely due to their perfect honesty. It is only the wish to deceive
that makes for war. No one at one with himself can even conceive
of conflict. Conflict is the inevitable result of self deception, and
self deception is dishonety. There is no challenge to a teacher of God.
Challenge implies doubt, and the trust on which God´s teachers
rest secure makes doubt impossible. Therefore they can only succeed,
because they never do their will alone. They choose for all mankind;
for all the world and all things in it; for the unchanging and unchangeable
beyond appearances; and for the Son of God and his Creator. How could
they not succeed? They choose in perfect honesty, sure of their choice
as of themselves.
Love
3. Tolerance
God´s teachers do not judge. To judge is to be dishonest, for to
judge is to assume a position you do not have. Judgment without
self deception is impossible. Judgment implies that you have been
deceived in your brothers. How, then, could you not have been
deceived in yourself? Judgment implies a lack of trust, and trust
remains the bedrock of the teacher of God´s whole thought system.
Let this be lost, and all his learning goes. Without judgment are all
things equally acceptable, for who could judge otherwise? Without
judgment are all men brothers, for who is there who stands apart?
Judgment destroys honesty and shatters trust. No teacher of God
can judge and hope to learn.
Love
4. Gentleness
Harm is impossible for God´s teachers. They can neither harm
nor be harmed. Harm is the outcome of judgment. It is the dishonest
act that follows a dishonest thought. It is a verdict of guilt upon a
brother, and therefore on onself. It is the end of peace and the
denial of learning. It demonstrates the absence of God´s curriculum,
and its replacement by insanity. No teacher of God but must learn,
- and fairly early in his training - that harmfulness completely
obliterates his function from his awareness. It will make him confused,
fearful, angry and suspicious. It will make the Holy Spirit´s lessons
impossible to learn. Nor can God´s Teacher be Heard at all, except
by those who realize that harm can actually achieve nothing.
No gain can come of it.
Therefore, God´s teachers are wholly gentle. They need the strength
of gentleness, for it is in this that the function of salvation becomes easy.
To those who would do harm, it is impossible. To those to whom harm
har no meaning, it is merely natural. What choice but this has meaning
to the sane? Who chooses hell when he perceives a way to Heaven?
And who would choose the weakness that must come from harm in
place of the unfailing, all-encompassing and limitless strength of
gentleness? The might of God´s teachers lies in their gentleness,
for they have understood their evil thoughts came neither from
God´s Son nor his Creator. Thus did they join their thoughts with
Him Who is their Source. And so their will, which always was His
Own, is free to be itself.
Love
5. Joy
Joy is the inevitable result of gentleness. Gentleness means that
fear is now impossible, and what could come to interfere with joy?
The open hands of gentleness are always filled. The gentle have no
pain. They cannot suffer. Why would they not be joyous? They are
sure they are beloved and must be safe. Joy goes with gentleness as
surely as grief atends attack. God´s teachers trust in Him. And they
are sure His Teacher goes before them, making sure no harm can
come to them. They hold His gifts and follow in His way, because
God´s Voice directs them in all things, Joy is their song of thanks.
And Christ looks down on them in thanks as well. His need of them
is just as great as their of Him. How joyous it is to share the purpose
of salvation!
Love
6. Defenselessness
God´s teachers have learned how to be simple. They have no
dreams that need defense against the truth. They do not try to make
themselves. Their joy comes from their understanding Who created
them. And does what God created need defense? No one can
become an advanced teacher of God until he fully understands that
defenses are but foolish guradians of mad illusions. The more
grotesque the dream, the fierces and more powerful its defenses
seem to be. Yet when the teacher of God finally agrees to look past
them, he finds that nothing was there. Slowly at first he lets himself
be undeceived. But he learns faster as his trust increases. It is not
danger that comes when defenses are laid down. It is safety. It is
peace. It is joy. And it is God.
Love
7. Generosity
The term generosity has special meaning to the teacher of God. It
is not the usual meaning of the word, in fact, it is a meaning that
must be learned and learned very carefully. Like all the other
attributes of God´s teachers this one rests ultimately on trust, for
without trust no one can be generous in the true sense. To the
world, generosity means "giving away" in the sense of "giving up."
To the teachers of God, it means giving away in order to keep. This
has been emphasized throughout the text and the workbook, but it
is perhaps more alien to the thinking of the world than many other
ideas in our curriculum. Its greater strangeness lies merely in the
obviousness of its reversal of the world´s thinking. In the clearest
way possible, and at the simplest of levels, the word means the
exact opposite to the teachers of God and to the world.
The teacher of God is generous out of self interest. This does not
refer, however, to the self of which the world speaks. The teacher of
God does not want anything he cannot give away, because he
realizes it would be valueless to him by definition. What would he
want it for? He could only lose because of it. He could not gain.
Therefore he does not seek what only he could keep, because that is
a guarantee of loss. He does not want to suffer. Why should he
ensure himself pain? But he does not want to keep for himself all things
that are of God, and therefore for His Son. These are the things that
belong to him. These he can give away in true generosity, protecting
them forever for himself.
Love
8 Patience
Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and
wait without anxiety. Patience is natural to the teacher of God. All
he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as
yet, but not in doubt. The time will be as right as is the answer. And
this is true for Everything that happens now or in the future. The
past as well held no mistakes; nothing that did not serve to benefit
the world, as well as him to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps it
was not understood at the time. Even so, the teacher of God is
willing to reconsider all his past decisions, if they ar causeing pain
to anyone. Patience is natural to those who trust. Sure of the
ultimate interpretation of all things in time, so outcome already
seen or yet to come can cause them fear.
Love
9 Faithfulness
The extent of the teacher of God´s faithfulness is the measure of
his advancement in the curriculum. Does he still select some
aspects of his life to bring to his learning, while keeping others
apart? If so, his advancement is limited, and his trust not yet firmly
established. Faithfulness is the teacher of God´s trust in the Word of
God to set all things right; not some, but all. Generally, his faithfulness
begins by resting on just some problems, remaining carefully limited
for a time. To give up all problems to one Answer is to reverse the
thinking of the world entirely. And that alone is faithfulness. Nothing
but that really deserves the name. Yet each degree, however small,
is worth achieving. Readiness, as the text notes, is not mastery.
True faithfulness, however, does not deviate. Being consistent, it
is wholly honest. Being unswerving, it is full of trust. Being based
on fearlessness, it is gentle. Being certain, it is joyous. And being
confident, it is tolerant. Faithfulness, then, combines in itself the
other attributes of God´s teachers. It implies acceptance of the Word
of God and His definition of His Son. It is to Them that faithfulness
in the true sense is Always directed. Toward Them it looks, seeking
until it finds. And haveing found, it rests in quiet certainty on That
alone to Which all faithfulness is due.
Love
10 Open-Mindedness
The centrality of open-mindedness, perhaps the last of the
attributes the teacher of God acquires, is easily understood when its
relation to forgiveness is recongnized. Open-mindedness comes with
lack of judgment. At judgment shuts the mind against God´s Teacher,
so open-mindedness invites Him to come in. As condemnation judges
the Son of God as evil, so open-mindedness permits him to be judged
by the Voice of God on His behalf. As the projection of guilt upon him
would send him to hell, so open-mindedness lets Christ´s image be
extended to him. Only the open-minded can be at peace, for they alone
see reason for it.
How do the open-minded forgive? They have let go all things that would
prevent forgiveness. They have in truth abandoned the world, and let it be
restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never have
have conceived of such a change. Nothing is now as it was formerly.
Nothing but sparkles now which seemed so dull in lifeless before.
And above all are all things welcoming, for threat is gone. No clouds
remain to hide the face of Christ. Now is the goal achieved. Forgiveness
is the final goal of the curriculum. It pave the way for what goes far
beyond all learning. The curriculum makes no effort to exceed its
legitimate goal. Forgiveness is its single aim, at which all learning
ultimately converges. It is indeed enough.
You may have noticed that the list of attributes of God´s teachers
does not include things that are the Son of God´s inheritance. Terms
like love, sinlessness, perfection, knowledge and eternal truth do
not appear in this context. They would be most inappropriate here.
What God has given is so far beyond our curriculum that learning
but disappears in its presence. Yet while its presence is obscured,
the focus properly belongs on the curriculum. It is the function of
God´s teachers to bring true learning to the world. Properly speaking
it is unlearning that they bring, for that is "true learning" in the world.
It is given to the teachers of God to bring the glad tidings of complete
forgiveness to the world. Blessed indeed are they, for they are the
bringers of salvation.
Love