Feb 7, 2016
A Course In Miracles – UR Text Version
I downloaded the more complete version of the Course In Miracles that was referenced by Duke and started reading it. It includes a lot of the original notes and adds editorial comments. It is not as polished as the popular edition, but I like the idea of reading the original wording to make sure that I can see what was truly intended to be said.
Below I am including some of the words that I highlighted because I found them interesting and sometimes though-provoking.
QUOTES FROM THE COURSE
“You will see miracles through your hands through Me!”
That is how the Course originally began.
It is crucial to say first that this is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what to take when. It is just because you are not ready to do what you should elect to do that time exists at all. (You will see miracles through your hands through me. You should begin each day with the prayer “Help me to perform whatever miracles you want of me today.”)
Embarrassment is only a form of fear, and actually a particularly dangerous form because it reflects egocentricity.
Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first.
Miracles are a form of healing. They supply a lack, and are performed by those who have more for those who have less.
Miracles attest to truth. They are convincing because they arise from conviction. Without conviction, they deteriorate into magic, which is mindless, and therefore destructive, or rather, the uncreative use of Mind.
Miracles are the absence of the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away from lower order reality. That is why they heal.
The recognition that there is nothing you WANT to hide, even if you could. This brings escape from fear.1
“Lord heal me” is the only legitimate prayer.
Miracles make time and tide wait for all men. They can heal the sick and raise the dead because man himself made both death and taxes, and can abolish both.
Miracles DO NOT depend on Revelation. They INDUCE it.
Christ inspires all miracles, which are essentially intercessions. They intercede for man’s holiness, and make him holy. They place man beyond the physical laws, and raise him into the sphere of celestial order. In this order, man IS perfect.
If a mind creates without love, it can create an empty shell. This CAN be possessed by evil. But the Atonement restores the Soul to its proper place. Unless there is emptiness there is no danger, and emptiness is a false creation. The mind that serves the Spirit is invulnerable.)
The answer is NEVER perform a miracle without asking me IF you should. This spares you from exhaustion, and because you act under direct communication the trance becomes unnecessary.
The references to the earthbound entering bodies really refer to the “taking over” by their own earthbound “thoughts.” This IS Demon Possession. After all, Lucifer fell, but he was still an angel. He is thus the symbol for man. Atonement is the knowledge that the belief that angels can fall is false. It is true that mind can create projections as well as miracles, but it’s NOT true that projections are REAL.
This is a rather intriguing line when you think about it: Lucifer becomes the symbol, not for a demonic entity, but for man, specifically man’s “earth-bound thoughts.”
“Casting spells” merely means “affirming error,” and error is lack of love. When man projects this onto others, he DOES imprison them, but only to the extent that he reinforces errors they have already made. This distortion makes them vulnerable to the curse of others, since they have already cursed themselves. The miracle worker can only bless, and this undoes the curse and frees the soul from prison.
Ultimately, every member of the family of God must return. The miracle calls to him to return, because it blesses and honors him even though he may be absent in spirit.
God WOULD be mocked if ANY of his creations lacked holiness. The Creation IS whole. The mark of Wholeness is Holiness, not holes. THE SONSHIP HAS NO HOLES ANYWHERE.
You are asked to behave toward others as you would have them behave toward you. This means that the perception of both must be accurate,
those “who change their mind” (not name) about destruction (or hate) do not need to die. Death is a human affirmation of a belief in hate. That is why the Bible says “There is no death,” and that is why I demonstrated that death does not exist. Remember that I came to FULFILL the law by REINTERPRETING it. The law itself, if properly understood, offers only protection to man. Those who have not yet “changed their minds” have entered the “hellfire” concept into it.
A MAJOR contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing man from his misplaced sense of isolation, deprivation, and lack. They are affirmations of Sonship, which is a state of completion and abundance.
Whatever is true & real is eternal, & CANNOT change or be changed. The Soul is therefore unalterable because it is ALREADY perfect, but the mind can elect the level it chooses to serve. The only limit which is put on its choice is that it CANNOT serve two masters.
Free will is the attribute of the mind, NOT the Soul. The Soul always remains changeless, because it never leaves the sight of God.
The Creation of the Soul is already fully accomplished. The mind, if it votes to do so, becomes a medium by which the Soul can create along the line of its own creation. If it does not freely elect to do so, it retains this creative ability, but places itself under tyrannous rather than authoritative control. As a result, what it creates is imprisonment, because such are the dictates of tyrants.
To “change your mind” means to place it at the disposal of True authority. The miracle is thus a sign that the mind has elected to be guided by Christ in HIS service. The abundance of Christ is the natural result of choosing to follow him.