You Have Enough, You Are Enough
by Tom Baker
Lesson: Chapter 7, III. The Reality of the Kingdom and Lesson 188
Date: November 2, 2008
The deepest of our fears is the fear of abandonment. We are afraid others will abandon us and we often use the threat of abandonment when we are angry. The very thing we are afraid of is what we use against others. Threatening abandonment reinforces our belief in abandonment and so a vicious circle ensues. The more I banish others the more completely I feel banished.
Forgiveness and healing are the opposites of abandonment and act, miraculously, as antidotes to it. Forgiveness projects oneness to another and so reminds the forgiver of his or her oneness with the other. Healing projects oneness to another and reminds the other of his or her oneness with the healer and everyone and everything else. When I forgive you in the Holy Spirit I am addressing my own forgetfulness of oneness. When I heal you in the Holy Spirit I am addressing your forgetfulness of oneness which may manifest in your body as a disease or your mind as an obsession. Forgiveness and healing are at the intentional center of the miracle. The following miracles principles speak to the process of healing:
"9. Miracles are a kind of exchange. Like all expressions of love, which are always miraculous in the true sense, the exchange reverses physical laws. They bring more love both to the giver and the receiver.
21. Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through miracles you accept God's forgiveness by extending it to others.
24. Miracles enable you to heal the sick and raise the dead because you made sickness and death yourself, and can therefore abolish both. You are a miracle, capable of creating in the likeness of your Creator. Everything else is your own nightmare, and does not exist. Only the creations of light are real.
38. The Holy Spirit is the mechanism of miracles. He recognizes both God's creations and your illusions. He separates the true from the false by His ability to perceive totally rather than selectively.
41. Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles. They thus correct, or atone for, the faulty perception of lack." (Chap. 1, I. Principles of Miracles, pp. 3-6).
Notice the emphasis on the miracle addressing our perception of lack and fragmentation. The ego, which is the systematized idea of separation from God and each other, felt as abandonment, rejection, and sickness, grows out of the perception of lack (not enough) and fragmentation (randomness and chaos). The miracle says, "You have enough and are enough and you are joined with everyone and everything in joy."
At the beginning of this section Jesus reassures us with his continual presence:
"When I said 'I am with you always,' I meant it literally. I am not absent to anyone in any situation. Because I am always with you, you are the way, the truth, and the life. You did not make this power, any more than I did." (Chap. 7, III. The Reality of the Kingdom, p. 116).
He goes on to remind us that if we are to feel truly abundant, we must demonstrate our equality by not competing with one another:
"Because God's equal Sons have everything, they cannot compete. Yet if they perceive any of their brothers as anything other than their perfect equals, the idea of competition has entered their minds. Do not underestimate your need to be vigilant against this idea, because all your conflicts come from it. It is the belief that conflicting interests are possible, and therefore you have accepted the impossible as true." (Chap. 7, III. The Reality of the Kingdom, pp. 116-117).
The interest we have together is to have (and thus to be) the peace of God. Every person in their right minds wants this. In the miracle we give it to others: "The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world. It pauses to caress each living thing, and leaves a blessing with it that remains forever and forever. What it gives must be eternal. It removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless. It brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all vision as it passes by. All of its gifts are given everyone, and everyone unites in giving thanks to you who give, and you who have received." (Workbook, Lesson 188: The peace of God is shining in me now. p. 357).
The offer of peace is the central blessing. When we offer peace to everyone and everything we become miracle-minded and will be guided in regard to offering healing. The guidance is not in respect to who deserves the miracle but who is willing to receive it. The Holy Spirit is aware of the details of everyone's resistance and denial of Truth and can determine if the mind of the person will benefit from the miracle. Jesus is the author of A Course In Miracles and directs and inspires in the Holy Spirit the miracles we perform.
The assignment continues to be finishing Chapter 7 with an emphasis on IV. Healing as the Recognition of Truth. I also encourage everyone to look for workbook lessons that match up with the text material.
Books recently recommended: Breakfast with Buddha and The American Savior
© Copyright Tom Baker 2008