In this video, we read and explore these two sections from A Course In Miracles: “God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day” (ACIM, W-49)” and “The Guiltless Son of God” (ACIM, T-13.II). Because of our investment in unconscious, unfounded guilt, we make ourselves frantic, so it’s our own responsibility – not anyone else’s! – to choose against our ego’s insane, masochistic, uncertain, lonely, paranoid, schizophrenic lunacy each moment by practicing true forgiveness until we develop a consistent habit of asking for help to accept the inner Voice for Sanity in our right mind 24/7/365… the goal of the Course: undoing the belief in separation.
This takes gentle, patient persistence and there aren’t really any shortcuts except being mindful as much as we can when we’re feeling even the slightest amount of discomfort, annoyance, irritation, vexation, botheration, pique, temper, excitation, innervation, soreness, aggravation, provocation, abnormalcy, abnormality, aggression, arousal, chafe, hurt, mistreatment, psychological imbalance, sensitization, suffering or unfairness. Even the slightest upset can be seen – from our right mind only! – as a blessing in much the same way that a well-placed road hazard sign has the potential to avert disaster… yet we must pay attention to those internal signs. The problem in the mental realm isn’t the signage: Holy Spirit’s curriculum of peace is steadfast like a road sign. The only problem is that we don’t pay attention or even ignore the messages they provide because we don’t really want that peace, and prefer the individuality we made up, even though that never makes us happy. We have trained our minds to ignore the blatherings of the idiocy in our divided minds which proclaim that the world is the problem, not how I’m seeing it!
Here are the first 3 paragraphs of Workbook Lesson 49:
“It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way. ²The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not. ³It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world’s laws. ⁴It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.
2. The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and wholly certain. ²It is really the only part there is. ³The other part is a wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind. ⁴Try today not to listen to it. ⁵Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and peace reign forever. ⁶Try to hear God’s Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son.
3. We will need at least four five-minute practice periods today, and more if possible. ²We will try actually to hear God’s Voice reminding you of Him and of your Self. ³We will approach this happiest and holiest of thoughts with confidence, knowing that in doing so we are joining our will with the Will of God. ⁴He wants you to hear His Voice.” (ACIM, W-49.1:1–3:4)
It is always our choice – as much as we hate to admit it – whether we want to entertain a frantic, frenetic fearful fire-fighting frame of mind … or a peaceful, placid place in our mind that watches our own insanity without condemnation – either our self-condemnation (when we mindfully and correctly withdraw it from our former projections) or the more typical blame-throwing projection onto everyone and everything – whatever is the most handy dumping ground for our sinful, guilty, fearful thoughts; even though honest self-examination would reveal that “I am never upset for the reason I think.” (ACIM, W-5).
Reflecting on an experience of watching real, genuine, kind, calm staff in a hospital emergency room recently: “It’s not so much the frantic, crazy world, it’s my reaction to it. The frantic crazy world that’s going on between my two ears … is a reflection of what’s going on in my wrong mind… That’s where the crazy, frantic world is – inside my wrong mind: sin, guilt, fear, just screaming … [We need to be able to] just step back from that, and watch it in an ER room, or in a quiet peaceful garden.” – Tim Wise
Here are the first 3 paragraphs of “The Guiltless Son of God”:
“1. The ultimate purpose of projection is always to get rid of guilt. ²Yet, characteristically, the ego attempts to get rid of guilt from its viewpoint only, for much as the ego wants to retain guilt you find it intolerable, since guilt stands in the way of your remembering God, Whose pull is so strong that you cannot resist it. ³On this issue, then, the deepest split of all occurs, for if you are to retain guilt, as the ego insists, you cannot be you. ⁴Only by persuading you that it is you could the ego possibly induce you to project guilt, and thereby keep it in your mind.
2. Yet consider how strange a solution the ego’s arrangement is. ²You project guilt to get rid of it, but you are actually merely concealing it. ³You do experience the guilt, but you have no idea why. ⁴On the contrary, you associate it with a weird assortment of “ego ideals,” which the ego claims you have failed. ⁵Yet you have no idea that you are failing the Son of God by seeing him as guilty. ⁶Believing you are no longer you, you do not realize that you are failing yourself.
3. The darkest of your hidden cornerstones holds your belief in guilt from your awareness. ²For in that dark and secret place is the realization that you have betrayed God’s Son by condemning him to death. ³You do not even suspect this murderous but insane idea lies hidden there, for the ego’s destructive urge is so intense that nothing short of the crucifixion of God’s Son can ultimately satisfy it. ⁴It does not know who the Son of God is because it is blind.” (ACIM, T-13.II.1:1–3:4)
Reflecting on the first paragraph above … and the ego’s bottom line: “We must above all else preserve guilt according to the ego; we must keep it by putting it in others. We’re always scoping for some way to put it out there in someone ‘else’ and be ‘free’ of it; the ego’s mode of operation all the time. … [As egos] we’re never comfortable, we’re always restless, we’re always uncomfortable, always some way or another trying to rid ourselves of the guilt and never finding peace.” – Lyn Corona
Ken Wapnick, as always, has crystal clear commentary on this section; here is just one example of his prolific and profound insights:
“The ego tells us we will escape from guilt and its horrifying punishment at the hands of a vengeful god by making a world in which to hide. Within the world itself, we escape from our sense of guilt by making others responsible for our suffering. Whenever we are angry or even mildly annoyed, it is because we seek to conceal the self-hatred within. Without that motivation, we would never attack anyone or anything. Yet ideas leave not their source, meaning projection is intrinsically a lie. Guilt remains forever in the split mind as long as our decision-maker chooses to believe in it.” – Kenneth Wapnick, from his highly recommended: Journey Through The Text (4 volume set)
(This YouTube video recording was made on February 18, 2024.)