Ch. 1. III. 3 – 5. Jesus: “Those who realize they are forgiven are the means of the Atonement. Being filled with spirit, they forgive in return. Released from illusion, they must naturally join in releasing their brothers, for this is the plan of the Atonement.
Miracles are the way in which minds that serve the Holy Spirit unite with me for ‘the salvation,’ or release of all of God’s creations. Because I have come to the Atonement myself and identify with it, I am the only one who can perform miracles impersonally, without bias or discrimination.
You have a role in the Atonement in which I will direct you. Let me decide which miracles you should perform! This spares you needless effort, because you will be acting under direct communication. The choice of the miracle being impersonal in nature is an essential ingredient, because it enables me to direct its application, and under my guidance, miracles lead your learning process along the way that brings you eventually to the highly personal experience of revelation. A guide does not control, but he does direct, leaving it up to you to follow.
The prayer, ‘Lead us not into temptation’ is a commitment to recognize your errors and choose to abandon them by following my guidance. Be confident that error cannot threaten truth, which can always withstand it. It is only the error that is actually vulnerable. You are free to establish your kingdom where you see fit, but the right choice is inevitable if you remember this:
Spirit is in a state of grace forever. Your reality is only spirit. Therefore you are in a state of grace forever. Atonement undoes all errors in this respect, and thus uproots the very source of fear.
Whenever you may experience God’s reassurances as threat, it is always because you are defending misplaced or misdirected loyalty. When you project this onto others you imprison them, but only to the extent to which you reinforce errors they have already made. Since their own perception of themselves is distorted, this makes them vulnerable to the distortions of others. The miracle worker can only bless his or her brothers. This undoes their distortions and frees them from the prisons they have made.”
Note: Each morning I sit down at my computer, bring to the screen the cited paragraphs of the Course, read them a word at a time while asking my inner guidance for what will make the meaning clear to me in common language I can understand. I ask for clarification and it is given; a comma here, a preposition there, paragraph breaks not in the material before. I think it more correct to refer to what is in quotes as “reflections,” as they are captioned on the RMMC website where several samples appear. They are not verbatim quotes from the Course, but neither are they “interpretations” on my part. Sometimes I do add an observation in another paragraph preceded by >>>.
This careful, meticulous approach to studying the Course was suggested by Ken Wapnick, who stated often that the Course is broader, richer and deeper than most students realize. Once I began again in working through the material, asking the Holy Spirit’s help, I discovered I was being guided. When in doubt, I muscle test, as I learned from Dr. David R. Hawkins, whose books, videos and workshops combining Course teachings with biblical, Hindu and Buddhist practice have been most helpful to me with the Course. Peace – Ron