In this video, Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles read and talk about selections from Chapter 16 of the Text of A Course in Miracles: The Forgiveness of Illusions. In “The Choice for Completion” we read and expounded on:
“If you perceived the special relationship as a triumph over God, would you want it? Let us not think of its fearful nature, nor of the guilt it must entail, nor of the sadness and the loneliness. For these are only attributes of the whole religion of separation, and of the total context in which it is thought to occur. The central theme in its litany to sacrifice is that God must die so you can live. And it is this theme that is acted out in the special relationship. Through the death of your self you think you can attack another self, and snatch it from the other to replace the self that you despise. And you despise it because you do not think it offers the specialness that you demand. And hating it you have made it little and unworthy, because you are afraid of it.”
– T-16.V.10
In the prior section “The Illusion and the Reality of Love”, we read and connected these related ideas:
“There are no triumphs of love. Only hate is at all concerned with the “triumph of love.” The illusion of love can triumph over the illusion of hate, but always at the price of making both illusions. As long as the illusion of hatred lasts, so long will love be an illusion to you. And then the only choice remaining possible is which illusion you prefer. There is no conflict in the choice between truth and illusion. Seen in these terms, no one would hesitate. But conflict enters the instant the choice seems to be one between illusions, but this choice does not matter. Where one choice is as dangerous as the other, the decision must be one of despair.
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false. Every illusion is one of fear, whatever form it takes. And the attempt to escape from one illusion into another must fail. If you seek love outside yourself you can be certain that you perceive hatred within, and are afraid of it. Yet peace will never come from the illusion of love, but only from its reality.”
– T.16.IV.5-6
In order to go beyond the unfulfilling and unsatisfying ego strategies of infatuation (special love) and the flip side of it’s fiat coin of the realm insinuation, victimhood and blame (special hate) we must increasingly question the effectiveness of believing we’re at the mercy of external factors and considerations, particularly relationships, with romantic relationships often being the poster child of this dysfunctional practice. Happily, when we “turn it around” and trust more and more in our Inner Kindness Teacher’s counsel instead of ego’s insanity, we transform those very same relationships – with everyone and everything – to genuine compassion, caring and true helpfulness because we’re not invested in personal or specific outcomes; we become merciful instead of being at the mercy of our dream projections.
In the realm of “ACIM News” … Susan mentioned drawing inspiration from re-listening to Ken Wapnick’s excellent audio program Cast No One Out: Making It about Them
Susan writes frequently and eloquently about A Course in Miracles in her very engaging blog, ForaysInForgiveness.
(This video was recorded on Febrary 15, 2019.)