A Course In Miracles - Chapter 4, Section IV

Hi,

I'm Teresa Hubbard.

Welcome back to our continued reading of the text to A Course in Miracles.

We continue today in Chapter 4,

The Illusions of the Ego.

Section 4,

This Need Not Be.

To summarize my takeaways,

In Section 4 of Chapter 4,

Jesus tells us that our choice to listen to the voice of our ego,

Instead of the voice for God,

Is demonstrated by our attitudes,

Our feelings,

And our behavior.

We are further told that the first coming of Christ is another name for creation,

For Christ is the Son of God.

We also learn that the second coming of Christ is nothing more than the end of the ego's rule and the healing of the mind.

We are cautioned to watch our mind for the temptations of the ego and to not be deceived by them,

As it offers us nothing.

We are reminded that there is no limit to the power of the Son of God,

Yet we can limit our expression of this power as often as we choose.

We are lovingly told that eventually our mind will elect to join with His and that together we are invincible.

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 definitions of terms you will hear within this reading.

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

Christ – the self that God created by extension of His Spirit.

It represents the potential within each of us.

Sin – an illusion whereby we believe in the reality of our separation from God.

This stems from our egoic sense of our unworthiness of forgiveness,

Which leads to guilt.

Such guilt is then projected onto ourselves and others.

Atonement – the Holy Spirit's plan of correction,

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

Holy Spirit – the communication link between God and us,

Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds.

Through this bridge,

Our worldly perception of sin,

Guilt and fear is transformed into the reality of love and forgiveness.

Knowledge – also referred to as heaven or the real world.

It is the pre-separation world of God and His unified creation in which there are no differences in form and therefore exclusive of the world of perception.

Miracle – the change in mind that shifts our perception,

Transcending the laws of this world to reflect the laws of God.

The miracle provides the means to heal our own minds and the minds of others.

And now,

Onto the reading.

A Course in Miracles Chapter 4 – The Illusions of the Ego Section 4 – This Need Not Be If you cannot hear the voice for God,

It is because you do not choose to listen.

That you do listen to the voice of your ego is demonstrated by your attitudes,

Your feelings and your behavior.

Yet this is what you want.

This is what you are fighting to keep and what you are vigilant to save.

Your mind is filled with schemes to save the face of your ego and you do not seek the face of Christ.

The glass in which the ego seeks to see its face is dark indeed.

How can it maintain the trick of its existence except with mirrors?

But where you look to find yourself is up to you.

I have said that you cannot change your mind by changing your behavior.

But I have also said,

And many times,

That you can change your mind.

When your mood tells you that you have chosen wrongly,

And this is so whenever you are not joyous,

Then no,

This need not be.

In every case you have thought wrongly about some brother God created and are perceiving images your ego makes in a darkened glass.

Think honestly what you have thought that God would not have thought,

And what you have not thought that God would have you think.

Search sincerely for what you have done and left undone accordingly,

And then change your mind to think with God's.

This may seem hard to do,

But it is much easier than trying to think against it.

Your mind is one with God's.

Denying this and thinking otherwise has held your ego together,

But has literally split your mind.

As a loving brother,

I am deeply concerned with your mind and urge you to follow my example as you look at yourself and at your brother,

And see in both the glorious creations of a glorious father.

When you are sad,

No,

This need not be.

Depression comes from a sense of being deprived of something you want and do not have.

Remember that you are deprived of nothing except by your own decisions and then decide otherwise.

When you are anxious,

Realize that anxiety comes from the capriciousness of the ego,

And no,

This need not be.

You can be as vigilant against the ego's dictates as for them.

When you feel guilty,

Remember that the ego has indeed violated the laws of God,

But you have not.

Leave the quote sins end quote of the ego to me.

That is what atonement is for.

That until you change your mind about those whom your ego has hurt,

The atonement cannot release you.

While you feel guilty,

Your ego is in command because only the ego can experience guilt.

This need not be.

Watch your mind for the temptations of the ego and do not be deceived by it.

It offers you nothing.

When you have given up this voluntary dispiriting,

You will see how your mind can focus and rise above fatigue and heal.

Yet you are not sufficiently vigilant against the demands of the ego to disengage yourself.

This need not be.

The habit of engaging with God and his creations is easily made if you actively refuse to let your mind slip away.

The problem is not one of concentration.

It is the belief that no one,

Including yourself,

Is worth consistent effort.

Side with me consistently against this deception and do not permit this shabby belief to pull you back.

The disheartened are useless to themselves and to me,

But only the ego can be disheartened.

Have you really considered how many opportunities you have had to gladden yourself and how many of them you have refused?

There is no limit to the power of the Son of God,

But he can limit the expression of his power as much as he chooses.

Your mind and mine can unite in shining your ego away,

Releasing the strength of God into everything you think and do.

Do not settle for anything less than this and refuse to accept anything but this as your goal.

Watch your mind carefully for any beliefs that hinder its accomplishment and step away from them.

Judge how well you have done this by your own feelings,

For this is the one right use of judgment.

Judgment,

Like any other defense,

Can be used to attack or to protect,

To hurt or to heal.

The ego should be brought to judgment and found wanting there.

Without your own allegiance,

Protection and love,

The ego cannot exist.

Let it be judged truly and you must withdraw allegiance,

Protection and love from it.

You are a mirror of truth in which God himself shines in perfect light.

To the ego's dark glass,

You need but say,

Quote,

I will not look there because I know these images are not true,

End quote.

Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace,

Knowing that this and only this must be.

His mind shone on you in your creation and brought your mind into being.

His mind still shines on you and must shine through you.

Your ego cannot prevent him from shining on you,

But it can prevent you from letting him shine through you.

The first coming of Christ is merely another name for the creation,

For Christ is the Son of God.

The second coming of Christ means nothing more than the end of the ego's rule and the healing of the mind.

I was created like you in the first and I have called you to join me in the second.

I am in charge of the second coming and my judgment,

Which is used only for protection,

Cannot be wrong because it never attacks.

Yours may be so distorted that you believe I was mistaken in choosing you.

I assure you,

This is a mistake of your ego.

Do not mistake it for humility.

Your ego is trying to convince you that it is real and I am not because if I am real,

I am no more real than you are.

That knowledge,

And I assure you that it is knowledge,

Means that Christ has come into your mind and healed it.

I do not attack your ego.

I do work with your higher mind,

The home of the Holy Spirit,

Whether you are asleep or awake,

Just as your ego does with your lower mind,

Which is its home.

I am your vigilance in this because you are too confused to recognize your own hope.

I am not mistaken.

Your mind will elect to join with mine and together we are invincible.

You and your brother will yet come together in my name and your sanity will be restored.

I raise the dead by knowing that life is an eternal attribute of everything that the living God created.

Why do you believe it is harder for me to inspire the dispirited or to stabilize the unstable?

I do not believe that there is an order of difficulty in miracles.

You do.

I have called and you will answer.

I understand that miracles are natural because they are expressions of love.

My calling you is as natural as your answer and as inevitable.