“The terrible misperception that God Himself persecuted His own Son on behalf of salvation. THE VERY WORDS ARE MEANINGLESS.” …ACIM

The above quote is from the great spiritual work, A Course in Miracles. The capitalization of the last sentence is for emphasis only, and is my doing.

The author of this work, Helen Schucman, claimed that the source of her inspiration for it was Jesus Christ, himself. Whether you believe this, or not, is entirely up to you. I have read and studied – as much as I’m capable – this work going on seven years now, and I believe it came from a Source that’s not of this world. Therefore, I’m among those who believe that Jesus was the author, and Helen Schucman was simply the scribe. She was assisted in this endeavor by her coworker and colleague, William Thetford. Now before you jump up with your arms in the air calling me whatever comes to your mind. Let me say that I’m well aware there are those who vehemently deny this – and that’s their prerogative, as accepting it is mine.

This is a very difficult subject to write about – or maybe I should say, to post about. The writing part is not that difficult; it’s when it’s posted that it becomes difficult. For there’s no other subject that could be discussed that will polarize people quicker than this one. No other subject holds the means to cause even a small percentage of the argument and controversy as quickly as this one does; and neither argument nor controversy is my desire – nor my intent.

I simply feel a need and a desire to express my views on the subject. And as with everything I write, it’s my own perception as I see it. You’re free to take whatever may resonate with you – and leave the rest. It’s not my intention to try to convince or persuade you of anything.

“You teach best what you most need to learn.”   …Richard Bach

Richard Bach and The Course agree on this, for The Course plainly states, “…To teach is to learn.” If I’m teaching anyone that which I most need to learn; then who am I teaching, but myself? Maybe that’s why I write these posts; I need to learn. I don’t – I can’t – believe in a God that would persecute, or punish His own Son. The very idea that God – in my belief, the Creator of all things – could even consider sending some of His Children to an everlasting punishment invokes an image of a fearful and hateful god. A loveless god to be obeyed out of fear – or one to be ignored as nonexistent. I adhere to the latter, because I cannot believe in, nor accept, a vengeful and hateful god. I believe this type of god is no more than an image made up by humans to exemplify their own fears and shortcomings.

“I cannot conceive of a personal God who would… directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation.” …Albert Einstein

This quote by Albert Einstein and the subject of this post are, for many, like the proverbial square peg in a round hole – they don’t fit together that well.  This is so because Einstein’s quote talks about God’s creation. Whereas my opening quote – the subject of the post – concerns Jesus Christ, whom many millions of people believe was not created at all – but always was. And right here is where I want to stress in no uncertain terms that I’m NOT discussing that subject in this post.

The only reason I used Einstein’s quote is his unwillingness to believe in a God that would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. And in this I agree with him. God does not judge, because He does not need to. He created everything, including you, perfect, and everything He created remains as He created it – whole, eternal and changeless.

The image that we have made of ourselves, and projected into this physical dimension, is not the Self that God created. It is a false self made up and maintained through fear by the ego. And it’s the ego that teaches us that God is a loveless, vengeful, judgmental, and punishing god. It needs to do this in order to maintain its own existence; for outside of judgement with all its negative results, the ego does not exist.

“Forgiveness turns the world of sin into a world of glory, wonderful to see. Each flower shines in light, and every bird sings of the joy of Heaven.”  …ACIM

Oh, how beautiful this quote sounds to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear; to those who are attuned to the Holy Spirit’s thought system.  But The ego screams in protest at this information, claiming it’s false and can never be. It shrieks in its shrill voice, “Don’t be stupid; don’t listen to such nonsense; how can forgiveness do such things?” It shrieks and rants and raves at information like this because, even though it knows nothing else, it does know that true forgiveness means its demise.

But, the forgiveness mentioned in this quote isn’t the same forgiveness the world, and the ego, uses. This is the Holy Spirit’s version of forgiveness – it’s a complete change of mind. It’s the response of a mind that sees only the beautiful and the good, and realizes that anything other than this doesn’t exist, except in illusions. It doesn’t look upon the guilty and then extend pardon – it looks past guilt and realizes that in truth it doesn’t exist at all. It understands that God’s Son is, and always will be, innocent – exactly as His Father created Him. It’s this forgiveness we need to extend to every thing and everyone, including ourselves. Then we’ll see the world as it’s described in the above quote; a world of glory, wonderful to see.  

“Words don’t teach. Only experience teaches.”   …Abraham Hicks

There’s a very old proverb that says,  the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I know not who coined it, but I think it was someone in England centuries ago. That’s the thing with proverbs, they contain an element of truth, which makes them ageless. The truth this one contains is as fresh and true now as it was at the moment it was first uttered.

There’s only one way to know if there’s any truth in the idea that our thoughts have the power to literally change our life experiences; and that way is to do as the proverb says; eat the pudding. Now I’m speaking metaphorically of course, but if we want to know if something works for us, we need to try it for ourselves.

Here’s a repetition of my closing quote in my last post. It’s a simple way to try the pudding, so to speak. It’s taken from A Course in Miracles:  Learn then the happy habit of response to all temptation to perceive yourself as weak and miserable with these words:  I am as God created me. His Child can suffer nothing. And I am His Child.