Chapter 1 THE MEANING OF MIRACLES
by Tom Baker
Lesson: From the perspective of the examined life
Date: May 10th, 2009, Mother’s Day
Jesus enters the human experience carefully, knowing how accustomed we have become to fear and oddly fearful of doing without it. The Course he teaches is about miracles rather than revelation since "In this phase of learning, working miracles is important because freedom from fear cannot be thrust upon you." (Text, Chap. 1, p. 7). Revelation is so without fear that it would scare us, so we must begin with miracles:
"Awe should be reserved for revelation, to which it is perfectly and correctly applicable. It is not appropriate for miracles because a state of awe is worshipful, implying that one of a lesser order stands before his Creator. You are a perfect creation, and should experience awe only in the Presence of the Creator of perfection. The miracle is therefore a sign of love among equals. Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom. He is also entitled to love because he is a brother, and to devotion if he is devoted. It is only my devotion that entitles me to yours. There is nothing about me that you cannot attain. I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you . . . You stand below me and I stand below God. In the process of ‘rising up,’ [ascension?] I am higher because without me the distance between God and man would be too great for you to encompass. I bridge the distance as an elder brother to you on the one hand, and as a Son of God on the other." (T. p. 7)
The relationship of Jesus to the teacher of God in some ways is more like a mother to a child than a elder brother to a sibling. Like Jesus to us the mother is an elder equal. Her best approach to the child is that he or she is holy (worthwhile just being them) and loved the same as all the other children. Like Jesus she asks for respect and obedience from her child because of her wisdom. She expects devotion equal to her own. The mother speaks to the child in terms of potential which the mother models. Just as the mother acts as a bridge to adult thinking and relating which the child could not reach without her, Jesus acts as a bridge to God consciousness, which is too distant for us to reach alone.
Jesus as our elder and wiser brother/mother is teaching us the way out of the fear that we made and now build our consciousness around: "You can never control the effects of fear yourself, because you made fear, and you believe in what you made." (T. p. 14). Since we made fear we take it seriously and think of it as the center of everything. Even our basic personality structures, as the enneagram suggests, are centered in a particular fear. Yet the center is making us miserable. The first step in loosening our grip on fear is recognizing that you and I and Jesus and everyone are equals and equals who are holy. There is nothing wrong with anyone and no one is loved by God more or less than another:
"When the Atonement has been completed, all talents will be shared by all the Sons of God. God is not partial. All His children have His total Love, and all His gifts are freely given to everyone alike. ‘Except ye become as little children’ means that unless you fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the real power of the Son in his true relationship with the Father. The specialness of God’s Sons does not stem from exclusion but from inclusion. All my brothers [and sisters] are special. If they believe they are deprived of anything, their perception becomes distorted. When this occurs the whole family of God, or the Sonship, is impaired in its relationships." (T. pp. 11-12).
Fear, in the beginning, is the thought of loss: the loss of love and the loss of life. Fear then expands into the thoughts of losing what brings me love (our self image) and losing what will keep me alive (the fear of death), and then in the absence of the hope of love what will simply make my body feel good or give me a little fleeting pleasure. When we have lost all hope of love our mind begins to think addictively, craving this or that experience as a replacement of love. The Buddha points to this craving which is usually translated as "desire" as the great problem in consciousness. The miracle reminds us that neither love nor life can ever be lost:
"‘Heaven and earth shall pass away’ means that they will not continue to exist as separate states. My word, which is the resurrection and the life, shall not pass away because life is eternal. You are the work of God, and His work is wholly lovable and wholly loving. This is how a man must think of himself in his heart, because this is what he is." (T. p. 9).
The beginning of our believing again that we are loved and live forever is opening to the notion that everyone is deserving of love and eternal life because of how God created them, not as a result of what they have or have not made of themselves:
"Ultimately, every member of the family of God must return. The miracle calls him to return because it blesses and honors him, even though he may be absent in spirit. ‘God is not mocked’ is not a warning but a reassurance. God would be mocked if any of His creations lacked holiness. The creation is whole, and the mark of wholeness is holiness. Miracles are affirmations of Sonship, which is a state of completion and abundance." (T. p. 13).
What keeps us afraid is judgment. What delivers us from fear is including everyone in the family of God. The miracle speeds up this attitude of inclusion.
Thus we can begin to free our lives from their fearful centers more quickly (saving thousands of years) by offering the miracle as directed by Jesus:
"The power to work miracles belongs to you. I will provide the opportunities to do them, but you must be ready and willing. Doing them will bring conviction in the ability, because conviction comes through accomplishment. The ability is the potential, the achievement is its expression, and the Atonement, which is the natural profession of the children of God, is the purpose." (T. p. 9).
Examine your life for when someone you did not expect appeared who needed help or someone asked for love who you did not think worthy of it or you asked God for assistance when all seemed lost. All our days are full of miracle opportunities, openings of grace. Miracles are rare only when our plans, our opinions, and our memories are as far as we are willing to see.
Next week I will examine some of the lessons that deal with the inclusive heart. Next Sunday (May 17th) I will be speaking at the Fellowship of the Inner Light Sunday Service which begins at 10:30 am with meditation.
© Copyright Tom Baker 2009