The Mysterious Path to Health
A Course in Miracles says quite a bit about the health of our bodies and minds, and some of it is quite controversial, even among believing students. However, if one sees the Voice that spoke to Helen Schucman as coming from Jesus, or a divine source exceeding the intelligence of our earthly authorities, one must take the information seriously, even if it goes against orthodox thinking.
Here is just one of many statements that some find difficult to accept:
“Sickness is a decision. It is not a thing that happens to you, quite unsought, which makes you weak and brings you suffering. It is a choice you make, a plan you lay,” W-pI.136.7
Just about all of us have been quite ill one time or another, and in the midst of great discomfort, who among us have had this thought: “This illness is just what I planned and have chosen for myself. This is working out great!”
I doubt if anyone reading this actually thinks this way, but obviously the author of the Course knows this and is trying to instill a truth in us that is beyond our normal consciousness.
It also says some controversial things about how illness and pain can be eliminated such as:
“Healing is accomplished the instant the sufferer no longer sees any value in pain.” M-5.I.1
Most who are suffering pain would not agree with this and respond something like this: “Are you kidding? This pain has no value to me and I sure did not choose to have it.”
What we frail mortals fail to realize is that while we may not consciously choose to have pain and disease, they are still the result of our choices. For instance, many choose to eat or drink things that are not good for them that causes discomfort they did not consciously choose. Then, as the quote says, many receive some type of value from the pain itself, such as sympathy, others waiting on them, or an excuse to avoid unwanted work.
We’ll delve more into causes and cures as we go along, but first let us see exactly what the Course means when it speaks of sickness:
“Healing is the opposite of all the world’s ideas which dwell on sickness and on separate states. Sickness is a retreat from others, and a shutting off of joining. It becomes a door that closes on a separate self, and keeps it isolated and alone. Sickness is isolation. For it seems to keep one self apart from all the rest, to suffer what the others do not feel. It gives the body final power to make the separation real, and keep the mind in solitary prison, split apart and held in pieces by a solid wall of sickened flesh, which it can not surmount.” W-pI.137.1-2
The teaching is then that the core cause of illness and pain can be traced to our original separation from God. Before the separation there was equality, and what one felt, all felt which was unbounded joy and love. No one wanted to share anything painful, so all sharing was the desirable feelings of love, joy, peace etc.
Then, after the separation, we found ourselves in the illusion of being isolated in bodies. Whatever you felt was not shared, but kept to yourself. In our current situation one person can feel intense pain and a loved one next to him will not feel the pain at all. He may have empathy for the pain, but will not actually feel it.
According to ACIM, then, the core cause of pain and illness is this illusion of separateness and isolation. The Course speaks of a number of things that will help with removing illness, but the foundation of all healing is found in removing the separation between the Sons of God trapped in the illusion of their own making.
Think of it this way. You may have a friend who is very ill and undergoing intense suffering. You feel bad for him but are suffering no actual pain yourself. You go about your business during the day and maybe give him a passing thought of sympathy a couple times, but outside of that your life proceeds as normal.
But let us suppose you actually felt his pain. What would change then?
There would be an instant change in thinking. Immediately you would want to eliminate the pain and bring healing. Think of it. If we all felt this way now and shared our brother’s pain, it would not last for long because decisions would be made to do something about it and replace it with positive feelings.
Look at it another way. You see a homeless guy on a corner with a sign asking for money. You may feel sorry for him and give him a few dollars. But let us say you completely shared his mind and were no longer separate. Suddenly, you would want him to have as much as you, or at least enough to have some comfort. You may wind up withdrawing some money from your bank account so he can get some relief. If we all had the barriers of separation dissolved, then poverty would greatly diminish as your brother’s poverty would be your own.
Few, if any of us, have the barriers of separation completely removed in our consciousness, and when we suffer pain or illness we suffer alone as does our brother.
“The idea of separation produced the body and remains connected to it, making it sick because of the mind’s identification with it.” T-19.I.7
However, reversing this separation is a major key to healing:
“All sickness comes from separation. When the separation is denied, it goes. For it is gone as soon as the idea that brought it has been healed, and been replaced by sanity.” T-26.VII.2
That is interesting. As soon as the idea of separation goes, so does the illness associated with it for “No mind is sick until another mind agrees that they are separate. And thus it is their joint decision to be sick.” Then it tells us the cure is that “Uniting with a brother’s mind prevents the cause of sickness and perceived effects. Healing is the effect of minds that join, as sickness comes from minds that separate.” T-28.III.2
Then it makes this interesting statement:
“No one is sick if someone else accepts his union with him. His desire to be a sick and separated mind can not remain without a witness or a cause. And both are gone if someone wills to be united with him.” T-28.IV.7
This makes the key statement that an individual cannot remain sick without a “witness.” In other words, a separation that produces sickness cannot be maintained unless one has others to witness that it is real, or happening to him.
And what do we naturally do when a loved one is ill or in pain? We witness to him that it is real by showing sympathy and helping him get the medical care he seems to need.
According to ACIM this is the wrong approach, for it just reinforces the belief in the separation and the illness.
What then should we do? Should we be like a Vulcan from Star Trek, show no empathy and merely declare that all their suffering is an illusion, and that he needs to just acknowledge this and get over it?
No. That will not work either. In addition to suffering pain, the patient will become angry at you for your lack of sensitivity.
So, if you believe in the advice of the Course, how will you help your brother in distress?
For starters, you do not blatantly declare to him that his whole problem is an illusion in his mind. Even though this is technically true, saying such things may just increase the separation between you.
Ask him to describe his problems and listen to him with a caring attitude, but not saying anything to reinforce the belief. Then after you have established a rapport, seek the Holy Spirit with him in a way that is acceptable to his belief system. The Holy Spirit is essential here because it is our only means of healing separation while we seem to be in physical bodies here on earth.
If the use of the term “Holy Spirit” goes against his belief system, then you can use soul, higher self or just Spirit or God. The important thing is to join with your brother and seek union through the contacting of Higher Intelligence. This can be accomplished through mutual prayer or meditation.
Healing with the Mind
So, the ultimate key to good health for you and your loved ones is to remove barriers and share consciousness as if you were one. Unfortunately, the Course tells us that there are a number of problems that create barriers between individuals, and these barriers must be surmounted before success can be obtained.
The first and perhaps the greatest barrier is wrong thinking. Our thoughts are potent forces that can lead to health or disease:
“Are thoughts, then, dangerous? To bodies, yes! The thoughts that seem to kill are those that teach the thinker that he can be killed. And so he “dies” because of what he learned.” T-21.VIII.1
“The sick are healed as you let go all thoughts of sickness, and the dead arise when you let thoughts of life replace all thoughts you ever held of death.” W-pI.132.8
“Healing is a thought by which two minds perceive their oneness and become glad.” T-5.I.1
One common wrong thought concerning health is that the body and not the mind is the source of all or at least some disease. When the average person becomes ill, he rarely will attribute the problem to his mind or thinking, and instead see it as a problem produced by the body. To the contrary, the Course gives this view:
“The body cannot heal, because it cannot make itself sick. It needs no healing. Its health or sickness depends entirely on how the mind perceives it, and the purpose that the mind would use it for.” T-19.I.3
“Thus is the body healed by miracles because they show the mind made sickness, and employed the body to be victim, or effect, of what it made.” T-28.II.11
So, the first correction of thinking needed is the realization that illness comes not from the body, genes, inheritance, etc., but from our wrong-minded thoughts.
“These patients do not realize they have chosen sickness. On the contrary, they believe that sickness has chosen them.” M-5.III.1
The Course does not differentiate much between physical and mental illness. Instead, it seems to categorize illness or pain of any kind as coming from the mind. It is written:
“all sickness is mental illness,” P-2.IV.8
The problem is that “What you made has imprisoned your will, and given you a sick mind that must be healed.” T-6.V.C.9
Indeed, it tells us that all discomfort, pain and illness come from a mind that has chosen illusion over truth, which is said to be insane:
“As you look with open eyes upon your world, it must occur to you that you have withdrawn into insanity. You see what is not there, and you hear what makes no sound.” T-13.V.6
“the content of individual illusions differs greatly. Yet they have one thing in common; they are all insane. “ T-13.V.1
The world itself is sick and insane:
“This is an insane world, and do not underestimate the extent of its insanity.” T-14.I.2
The mental illness of general insanity seems widespread as indicated in this quote:
“The insane protect their thought systems, but they do so insanely. And all their defenses are as insane as what they are supposed to protect. The separation has nothing in it, no part, no “reason,” and no attribute that is not insane. And its “protection” is part of it, as insane as the whole. The special relationship, which is its chief defense, must therefore be insane.” T-17.IV.5
Again, it is pointed out that the “separation” is the cause of all insanity as well as any mental or physical health problems originating from it. Here is the basic problem that needs solved:
“For you have taught yourself how to imprison the Son of God, a lesson so unthinkable that only the insane, in deepest sleep, could even dream of it.” T-14.XI.2
And here is the cure: “When a brother behaves insanely, you can heal him only by perceiving the sanity in him. If you perceive his errors and accept them, you are accepting yours.” T-9.III.5.
So, according to ACIM, we have the situation where our wrong thinking creates an insane world where lots of pain and illness becomes the norm. Unfortunately, just accepting that we need to get our mind right and thinking straightened out is not enough. That only indicates the general direction we need to proceed. Fortunately, the Course gives us a number of problems we must circumvent in order to achieve healing. Let’s examine several of them.
Obstacles to Master
- FEAR
The Course tells us that fear is a great obstacle to right-mindedness and hence to good health. It gives the controversial thought that many are actually afraid to be healed.
“An individual may ask for physical healing because he is fearful of bodily harm. At the same time, if he were healed physically, the threat to his thought system might be considerably more fearful to him than its physical expression. In this case he is not really asking for release from fear, but for the removal of a symptom that he himself selected. This request is, therefore, not for healing at all.
“The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is indeed true. The very fact that the Holy Spirit has been asked for anything will ensure a response. Yet it is equally certain that no response given by Him will ever be one that would increase fear. It is possible that His answer will not be heard.” T-9.II.2-3
This tells us that we consciously say we want healing because of fear of bodily harm, but there is something else of which we are even more afraid. We are more afraid of a change to our thought system required by the healing.
Then it tells us that we may pray and ask for healing and the answer will be given, but we may not hear that answer because of our fears.
The bottom line is we fear changing from wrong-minded to right-minded thinking more than we fear pain, illness and even death.
“If your miracle working inclinations are not functioning properly, it is always because fear has intruded on your right-mindedness and has turned it upside down.” T-2.V.4
“All healing is essentially the release from fear. To undertake this you cannot be fearful yourself. You do not understand healing because of your own fear.” T-2.IV.1
We are promised that the overcoming of fear can lead to healing:
“If you are afraid of healing, then it cannot come through you. The only thing that is required for a healing is a lack of fear. The fearful are not healed, and cannot heal.” T-27.V.1
- GUILT
We do not need a revelation from on high to convince us that guilt has a negative effect on both physical and mental health. It is obvious that guilt can cause great emotional pain and stress to the nervous system. Most also realize that the stress it produces can have physical effects and weaken the body, making it more susceptible to illness. But according to the Course, its physical effects and relationship to fear are more powerful and pervasive than realized by most.
“Under fear’s orders the body will pursue guilt, serving its master whose attraction to guilt maintains the whole illusion of its existence. “ T-19.IV.B.13
“Guilt, too, is feared and fearful. Yet it could have no hold at all except on those who are attracted to it and seek it out.” T-19.IV.C.1
Guilt is also related to wrong-mindedness or insane thinking:
“It is guilt that has driven you insane.” T-13.in.1
“For you must learn that guilt is always totally insane, and has no reason.” T-13.X.6
Sickness itself is a sign that guilt is present:
“For sickness is the witness to his guilt.” T-27.I.4
And finally, it tells us that overcoming guilt is a key to eliminating sickness:
“The guiltless mind cannot suffer.” T-5.V.5
“Sickness where guilt is absent cannot come, for it is but another form of guilt. Atonement does not heal the sick, for that is not a cure. It takes away the guilt that makes the sickness possible. And that is cure indeed. For sickness now is gone, with nothing left to which it can return. W-pI.140.4.
Guilt not only aggravates illness, but it robs those with it of their peace of mind. Such a lack of peace can be a greater disturbance than many physical problems.
Earlier in this book we discussed guilt and how to eliminate it completely. It is advisable for those having problems with this negative emotion to review those teachings and take them to heart. After all, peace of mind of the guiltless is priceless.
- FORGIVENESS
True forgiveness is essential to healing according to ACIM. It says that “To forgive is to heal” M-22.1, and “that forgiveness is healing needs to be understood.” M-22.3 It is essential to the miracle of healing for, “Only forgiveness offers miracles.” T-25.IX.8 “Forgiveness recognized as merited will heal. It gives the miracle its strength to overlook illusions.” T-30.VI.5
These quotes make a lot of sense when you think of it, for if one holds a grievance toward another, he is holding in a lot of negative emotional energy which has no constructive effect on any level. Much ill health is caused by a blockage of the free flow of life and emotional energy, and grievance caused by unforgiveness certainly contributes to this problem. Letting go of a grievance toward a brother can open the door to a miraculous healing on both physical and emotional levels.
Forgiveness not only heals the one doing the forgiving but also the one forgiven:
“Therefore, those who have been forgiven must devote themselves first to healing because, having received the idea of healing, they must give it to hold it.” T-5.IV.7
So, the one forgiven can also be healed if he seeks to heal others. He “must give it to hold it” for “Forgiveness is not real unless it brings a healing to your brother and yourself.” T-27.II.4
The forgiven and the forgiver must ask this question: “And who is there whom his forgiveness can fail to heal?” M-18.4
The power and extent to which healing can affect us is profound, for it says: “no one in whom true forgiveness rests can suffer.” T-27.II.3
That is quite a statement that would be difficult for many to accept who are suffering. If it is literally true then this would tell us that there are dimensions of forgiveness that is beyond the current consciousness of many, and we need to examine ourselves to see where the principle of forgiveness yet needs to be applied.
Indeed, the Course asks: “Does pain seem real in the perception? If it does, be sure the lesson is not learned. And there remains an unforgiveness hiding in the mind that sees the pain through eyes the mind directs.” W-pI.193.7
The fact that it speaks of “unforgiveness hiding” tells us that some are deceived into thinking that they have forgiven all when they have not for “there can be no form of suffering that fails to hide an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal.” W-pI.198.9
The important thing that is healed through forgiveness is our “sight” or the way we look at things, especially separation:
Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely. W-pI.75.9
“Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation. Correct perception of your brother is necessary, because minds have chosen to see themselves as separate.” T-3.V.9
This healing of the perception of separation coincides with the healing of the mind:
“So does your healing show your mind is healed, and has forgiven what he did not do. And so is he (your brother) convinced his innocence was never lost, and healed along with you.” T-27.II.6
We are given this advice:
“From knowledge, where He has been placed by God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you.” W-pII.7.4
Finally, we are given this as a goal:
“My forgiveness is the means by which the world is healed, together with myself.” W-pI.82.1
- LOVE
We have just noted the importance of forgiveness in relation to healing. This is important, but healing cannot be complete without the foundation emotion leading to completeness.
“It (forgiveness) is the source of healing, but it is the messenger of love and not its Source.” T-18.IX.10
When we return to our Source, forgiveness will no longer be needed, but there will still be love which is a basic aspect that God shares with all creation. When true healing occurs, love is always there manifesting in some way.
The other two barriers to healing of fear and guilt are also neutralized by love.
“all healing involves replacing fear with love.” T-8.IX.5
“Be not afraid of love. For it alone can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears, and gently waken from his dream of pain the Son whom God acknowledges as His.” W-pII.10.4
“The attraction of guilt produces fear of love, for love would never look on guilt at all. It is the nature of love to look upon only the truth, for there it sees itself, with which it would unite in holy union and completion.” T-19.IV.A.10
Many spiritual healers recognize the importance of love in producing positive results. Even experiments with growing plants verifies this. Plants. that are sent loving thoughts become much healthier than those sent negative thoughts.
A Course in Miracles reveals that love has more power than is generally realized:
“Love cannot suffer, because it cannot attack. The remembrance of love therefore brings invulnerability with it.” T-10.III.3
That is quite a statement telling us that love cannot suffer and brings “invulnerability with it.” Many may wonder at this statement as we have all seen many decent and loving people endure suffering. The Course does give us this clue:
“by not offering total love you will not be healed completely.” T-13.III.9
So, for a real miracle of complete healing to occur, love must be given with no reservations
“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.” T-1.I.3
The full expression of love is the greatest miracle. Even so, many who suffer seek the miracle of physical healing and seek to achieve it. But even though the suffering places great attention on the body, one must force his focus on love instead so miracles can take place, for “If a mind perceives without love, it perceives an empty shell and is unaware of the spirit within.” T-1.IV.2
The miracle of healing requires us to not let the discomfort of the body distract from awareness “of the spirit within.”
The one who is ill must take responsibility for his health and fulfill his own needs for love because, “When you do not value yourself you become sick, but my value of you can heal you, because the value of God’s Son is one.” T-10.III.6
We are all valuable to God and to be whole we must value ourselves.
“Miracles are merely the translation of denial into truth. If to love oneself is to heal oneself, those who are sick do not love themselves. Therefore, they are asking for the love that would heal them, but which they are denying to themselves. If they knew the truth about themselves they could not be sick.” T-12.II.1
And what is the truth about ourselves that heals? It is that we were created through the love of God and we are agents of love. To see ourselves as otherwise causes ill health.
“To love yourself is to heal yourself, and you cannot perceive part of you as sick and achieve your goal.” T-11.VIII.11
However, one cannot have completeness of healing without assisting and sharing love with others:
“Perceive in sickness but another call for love, and offer your brother what he believes he cannot offer himself. Whatever the sickness, there is but one remedy. You will be made whole as you make whole, for to perceive in sickness the appeal for health is to recognize in hatred the call for love.” T-12.II.3
“You will be made whole as you make whole” is reinforced in this statement:
“A miracle is a reversal of the physical order because it brings more love to the giver AND the receiver.” UR T 1 B 10
The goal of love in healing is summarized in this passage:
“There is no sadness where a miracle has come to heal. And nothing more than just one instant of your love without attack is necessary that all this occur. In that one instant you are healed, and in that single instant is all healing done.” T-27.V.4
- MIND
God extended His mind in us, giving us power to create anything which we imagine and make it real. This worked out fine as long as the Sons of God were in harmony with Divine Will and saw truth as it is. But then the Sons got this “mad idea” and wondered what it would be like to live in a world of time and space where even separation from God would be possible. This could not happen in eternity, but the power of the mind was so powerful that the Sons went to sleep, and in their dreams “miscreated” many strange things that led to nightmares and produced the possibility of pain and disease.
“you have used your own mind, which He created in the likeness of His Own, to miscreate.” T-3.II.4
The Course tells us that in this dream where fear prevails, we still have all powers of creation, but often misuse it when we choose fear instead of love:
“The fearful must miscreate, because they misperceive creation. When you miscreate you are in pain.” T-2.VII.3
“The very fact that you are afraid makes your mind vulnerable to miscreation. You are therefore likely to misunderstand any healing that might occur, and because egocentricity and fear usually occur together, you may be unable to accept the real Source of the healing.” T-2.V.2
Even though we are in a dream of separation, we are still linked to our Creator:
“you cannot depart entirely from your Creator, Who set the limits on your ability to miscreate. An imprisoned will engenders a situation which, in the extreme, becomes altogether intolerable. Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way.” T-2.III.3
The “better way” is to remember who we are and use the mind for perfect creation instead of imperfect miscreation.
“The lesson (of healing) is the mind was sick that thought the body could be sick.” T-28.II.11
The ego takes advantage of this power to miscreate:
“The ego regards the body as its home, and tries to satisfy itself through the body. But the idea that this is possible is a decision of the mind, which has become completely confused about what is really possible.” T-4.II.7
We must realize our true situation as prisoners of the ego and the body so we can use the mind to eliminate pain and ill health:
“It (the body) holds in prison but the willing mind that would abide in it. It sickens at the bidding of the mind that would become its prisoner. And it grows old and dies, because that mind is sick within itself… Let us be glad that you will see what you believe, and that it has been given you to change what you believe. The body will but follow. T-31.III.4&6
The solution then is simple. We change what we believe and creation will follow:
“The mind is very powerful, and never loses its creative force. It never sleeps. Every instant it is creating. It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains.” T-2.VI.9
There is no miracle you cannot have when you desire healing. But there is no miracle that can be given you unless you want it. T-30.VIII.4
That sounds pretty simple. We just need to desire the miracle of healing to make it happen. But, one must realize that wholeness is required for miracles:
“All forms of sickness are signs that the mind is split, and does not accept a unified purpose.” T-8.IX.8
“Wholeness heals because it is of the mind.” T-8.IX.3
In other words, all the ingredients of the healing must be desired to produce results.
For instance, if one has diabetes because of a bad diet with lots of refined sugar he, of course, would like to be healed of the disease, but is he willing to cease eating the processed foods that caused it? We are like little children who do not want to go to the dentist but also do not want to brush regularly and cut down on sugar.
A split mind cannot be healed. To be healed, the mind has to be directed to wholeness physically, emotionally and mentally. When all the ingredients of health are embraced by the mind, then there will be wholeness in thought and the miracle can happen.
The Course gives this solid advice in connection with the mind and healing:
“All mind is whole, and the belief that part of it is physical, or not mind, is a fragmented or sick interpretation. Mind cannot be made physical, but it can be made manifest through the physical if it uses the body to go beyond itself. By reaching out, the mind extends itself. It does not stop at the body, for if it does it is blocked in its purpose. A mind that has been blocked has allowed itself to be vulnerable to attack, because it has turned against itself.
“The removal of blocks, then, is the only way to guarantee help and healing. Help and healing are the normal expressions of a mind that is working through the body, but not in it.” T-8.VII.10-11
- FAITH
In discussing factors that lead to healing, the subject of faith must indeed be included. In the New Testament, faith was credited by Jesus more than anything else as being responsible for the healing miracles. He often gave credit to people’s faith for their healings. Here are just several statements:
“thy faith hath made thee whole.” Matt 9:22
“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.” Matt 9:29
“great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” Matt 15:28
This is perhaps his most famous statement concerning faith:
“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matt 17:20
Moving a mountain would indeed be an impressive feat, on par with the resurrection itself. It was His way of saying that “all things are possible to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23
The Course mentions this great power of faith as if it should be a common thing:
“Why is it strange to you that faith can move mountains? This is indeed a little feat for such a power. For faith can keep the Son of God in chains as long as he believes he is in chains. And when he is released from them it will be simply because he no longer believes in them, withdrawing faith that they can hold him, and placing it in his freedom instead.” T-21.III.3
The passage goes on to tell us why we do not see more acts of significant faith saying: “It is impossible to place equal faith in opposite directions.”
It tells us that we can place our faith in illusion and falsehood as well as truth: “Faith and belief are strong in madness, guiding perception toward what the mind has valued.” T-21.V.8
Thus, we cannot move mountains because we have faith in our own limitations rather than the real source of power which is within us.
It is interesting that we see that the people who gathered in the home synagogue of Jesus had misplaced faith that Jesus could not perform miracles. He found the people had little positive faith in Him because they knew His family. The people figured that one of their own with whom they were familiar could not be the source of such miracles. Concerning them it is written:
“And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Matt 13:58
Even Jesus could not assist in healing those who thought it was not possible.
We are told that, “Faith goes to what you want, and you instruct your mind accordingly. Your will remains your teacher, and your will has all the strength to do what it desires” W-pI.91.5
To have the faith that produces miracles, we must merely “instruct” our minds so we can accept the fact that “will has all the strength to do what it desires.”
Sounds pretty simple, but few fully incorporate such instruction because we have more faith in sickness than in health:
“Because the miracle worker has heard God’s Voice, he strengthens It in a sick brother by weakening his belief in sickness, which he does not share.” T-10.IV.7
It is certainly obvious that many have much more faith in illness than health. The miracle worker must therefore work to weaken that negative faith and redirect the mind to positive faith for “faith can be rewarded only in terms of the belief in which the faith was placed.” T-13.IX.2
We are told that our basic problem is that our “lack of faith in the power that heals all pain arises from your wish to retain some aspects of reality for fantasy.” T-17.I.3
The problem always goes back to the divided mind, which is especially true concerning health. We desire good health, but we also desire things that are not good for our health. We desire to have positive faith, but we tend to focus on a belief in negativity.
A united mind can indeed manifest miracles through faith, and nothing unites the mind more than truth: “Where the goal of truth is set, there faith must be. The Holy Spirit sees the situation as a whole.” T-17.VI.6
Faith is increased by the sharing of truth and right-mindedness. Jesus taught this when he was here:
“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt 18:19-20
Just two or three uniting in faith can make anything happen. The Course expands on this idea:
“Every situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity to heal the Son of God. And he is healed because you offered faith to him, giving him to the Holy Spirit and releasing him from every demand your ego would make of him. Thus do you see him free, and in this vision does the Holy Spirit share. And since He shares it He has given it, and so He heals through you. It is this joining Him in a united purpose that makes this purpose real, because you make it whole. And this is healing. The body is healed because you came without it, and joined the Mind in which all healing rests.” T-19.I.2
Faith, healing, the Atonement, forgiveness and sharing all work together:
“To have faith is to heal. It is the sign that you have accepted the Atonement for yourself, and would therefore share it. By faith, you offer the gift of freedom from the past, which you received. You do not use anything your brother has done before to condemn him now.” T-19.I.9
Finally, before the fulness of miracles can manifest, we all must work on ourselves and our own healing:
“There have been many healers who did not heal themselves. They have not moved mountains by their faith because their faith was not whole. Some of them have healed the sick at times, but they have not raised the dead. Unless the healer heals himself, he cannot believe that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. He has not learned that every mind God created is equally worthy of being healed because God created it whole. You are merely asked to return to God the mind as He created it. He asks you only for what He gave, knowing that this giving will heal you. Sanity is wholeness, and the sanity of your brothers is yours.” T-5.VII.2
- PEACE
Peace is an important ingredient in the healing process, as none of the six categories we have covered so far would be effective without it.
The attainment of peace is essential to overcoming fear and guilt. Peace is a sign that true forgiveness has taken place. Love and peace go hand in hand. We cannot be in a positive state of mind if we are not at peace, and without it we cannot center ourselves on our inner core to exercise true faith.
The state of peace is a sign that the miracle worker has all the ingredients together to proceed with his or her work of love, service and healing.
You would think that all students would greatly desire this quality, but the Course indicates this is not the case.
Lesson 185 encourages students to embrace this statement:
“I want the peace of God.”
Then it makes these remarks:
“To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time… No one can mean these words and not be healed.” W-pI.185.1-2
Obviously, there are a lot of people dealing with sorrow and ill health who would tell us that they desire peace, but according to the Course there must be something lacking in such desires, else their suffering would end. What is it that could be missing? Here is a clue:
“When a brother is sick it is because he is not asking for peace, and therefore does not know he has it. The acceptance of peace is the denial of illusion, and sickness is an illusion. Yet every Son of God has the power to deny illusions anywhere in the Kingdom, merely by denying them completely in himself.” T-10.III.7.
This points out several helpful things to aid in the attainment of peace and healing. First, we already have peace in our core, but one “does not know he has it.”
Secondly, one has to ask for it so the barriers can be removed. How many are there who are not at peace and in ill health, but have not made the simple gesture of asking their Source for peace and healing?
Third is “the acceptance of peace.” True peace comes from focusing on the Christ at the core of our being, for this state of mind has to be accepted to be retained. This is easier said than done as many distractions of life force us to look upon the world without more than the world within.
The fourth key to peace is “the denial of illusion” for “sickness is an illusion.”
Denial is often seen as a negative motion but the Course tells us that it can be put to positive use. We can use it to deny those things that are not true, not real or illusion. Since sickness of any kind is a part of the illusion, then a denial of it may be in order.
The question is, how do we go about denying pain and ill health? The key is to see that which is true rather than that which is not true. We are told that sickness is an illusion. An illusion is something that seems to be there but is not. This tells us how to deny sickness. One must attain the state of mind that sees and accepts it as something that does not exist in reality. I like to call this a state of “not seeing” rather than denial. When you do not see the imperfection, that which remains is perfection.
There is a spiritual maxim that says “energy follows thought.” The Course says something similar: “every thought you have brings either peace or war; either love or fear.” W-pI.16.3
Wrong-mindedness and miscreation guides energy in directions that produce disease. Taking thought away from the illusion removes the energy that feeds the illness and thus it has to disappear.
To accomplish this one has to honestly examine his thoughts and desires to see if he is really willing to let the destructive ones go and be replaced by the right-mindedness of the Holy Spirit which includes forgiveness. “The Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you.” W-pII.7.4
As stated earlier, peace is strongly connected with the previous six factors needed for healing. The first, which is fear, is huge. We are asked this:
“Can pain be part of peace, or grief of joy? Can fear and sickness enter in a mind where love and perfect holiness abide?” W-pI.152.2
Unwise thinking creates the problem:
“You have chosen to create unlike Him, and have therefore made fear for yourself. You are not at peace because you are not fulfilling your function.” T-4.I.9
But it offers solutions:
“For the instant of peace is eternal because it is without fear.” T-15.II.2
“You have escaped from fear to peace, asking no questions of reality, but merely accepting it.” T-18.VI.11
The second problem, which is guilt, is on the opposite side of peace:
“Peace and guilt are antithetical, and the Father can be remembered only in peace.” T-13.I.1
“Peace and guilt are both conditions of the mind, to be attained. And these conditions are the home of the emotion that calls them forth, and therefore is compatible with them.” T-19.IV.B.10
We are called “to lay all guilt aside. Reflect the peace of Heaven here, and bring this world to Heaven.” T-14.X.1
The Course stresses several times the importance of forgiveness in the attainment of the peace that heals:
“When peace is not with you entirely, and when you suffer pain of any kind, you have beheld some sin within your brother, and have rejoiced at what you thought was there.” T-24.IV.5.
“How willing are you to forgive your brother? How much do you desire peace instead of endless strife and misery and pain? These questions are the same, in different form.” T-29.VI.1
The fourth point is love, which goes hand in hand with peace:
“Love has now returned to our awareness. And we are at peace again, for fear has gone and only love remains.” W-pII.323.2
“Peace be to you to whom is healing offered…What occurred within the instant that love entered in without attack will stay with you forever. Your healing will be one of its effects, as will your brother’s.” T-27.V.11
A whole mind is essential to peace:
The Wholeness of God, which is His peace, cannot be appreciated except by a whole mind” T-6.II.1
Peace is closely associated with mind, as evidenced by the fact that the phrase “peace of mind” is used 34 times in ACIM. Here is just one example:
“There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.” W-pI.5.4
Finally, we see that peace is essential in the use of faith:
“Your faith must grow to meet the goal that has been set. The goal’s reality will call this forth, for you will see that peace and faith will not come separately. What situation can you be in without faith, and remain faithful to your brother?” T-17.VII.4
“Then follow Him in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through all dangers to your peace of mind this world may set before you.” T-13.VII.15
Peace is indeed an essential ingredient for healing and it is a journey without distance to find it:
“There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.” W-pI.47.7
Find that peace within and “nothing is impossible,” anything can be healed.
That said, we cannot end this section on peace without including the most famous quote of all from ACIM:
“Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.” T-in.2
- OTHER HEALING FACTORS
In addition to the seven factors we have covered, ACIMs tells us of others to which we need to pay attention.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The miracle of healing cannot take place without the Holy Spirit:
“Every situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity to heal the Son of God. And he is healed because you offered faith to him, giving him to the Holy Spirit and releasing him from every demand your ego would make of him. Thus do you see him free, and in this vision does the Holy Spirit share. And since He shares it He has given it, and so He heals through you. It is this joining Him in a united purpose that makes this purpose real, because you make it whole. And this is healing. The body is healed because you came without it, and joined the Mind in which all healing rests.” T-19.I.2
The Holy Spirit is the link for us between the worlds of heaven and earth. If we are to bypass the laws of this world and use the laws of the higher, we need His assistance. When a miraculous healing is attempted and met with failure, it is because the Holy Spirit was not fully involved and His messages of healing not entirely heard and followed. We must always include him for “the Holy Spirit is the only Healer.” T-13.VIII.1 In addition: “The Holy Spirit will direct you only so as to avoid pain.” T-7.X.3.
That which we seek must be in harmony with the Spirit, for even the scriptures tell us that “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” James 4:3 We must ask for that which is in harmony with the will of heaven which takes us from pain to joy, from incompleteness to wholeness.
JUDGMENT
Ego judgments interfere with healing:
“peace must come to those who choose to heal and not to judge.” T-21.VIII.2
“It must be true the miracle can heal all forms of sickness, or it cannot heal. Its purpose cannot be to judge which forms are real, and which appearances are true.” T-30.VI.7
“Instead of judging, we need but be still and let all things be healed.” W-pII.in.10
DISTORTED PERCEPTION
We live in a world of time and space where we learn through what is perceived. The trouble is that we perceive many things incorrectly, as well as wrongly interpret that which is perceived. This leads to many problems including ill health.
Correct perception is a miracle itself and is essential for healing:
“The level-adjustment power of the miracle induces the right perception for healing. Until this has occurred healing cannot be understood. Forgiveness is an empty gesture unless it entails correction. Without this it is essentially judgmental, rather than healing.” T-2.V.A.15
Healing involves perceiving our brother accurately:
“To heal, then, is to correct perception in your brother and yourself by sharing the Holy Spirit with him. This places you both within the Kingdom, and restores its wholeness in your mind.” T-7.II.2
And how do you tell if your perception is off?
“How can you tell when you are seeing wrong, or someone else is failing to perceive the lesson he should learn? Does pain seem real in the perception? If it does, be sure the lesson is not learned.” W-pI.193.7
The wrong perception of separation is the main correction needed:
“Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation. Correct perception of your brother is necessary, because minds have chosen to see themselves as separate.” T-3.V.9
REMEMBERING
To be a true miracle worker we are told that we must remember our origins. When we recall who we are, get a sense of heaven and a difference between laws that govern reality and illusion, then the presence of the Holy Spirit is fully invited in and miracles can occur.
Here we are told that if we could remember the truth about ourselves, we “could not be sick.”
“Miracles are merely the translation of denial into truth. If to love oneself is to heal oneself, those who are sick do not love themselves. Therefore, they are asking for the love that would heal them, but which they are denying to themselves. If they knew the truth about themselves they could not be sick. The task of the miracle worker thus becomes to deny the denial of truth. The sick must heal themselves, for the truth is in them…”
We must remember “that all power is of God. You can remember this for all the Sonship. Do not allow your brother not to remember, for his forgetfulness is yours. But your remembering is his, for God cannot be remembered alone. This is what you have forgotten. To perceive the healing of your brother as the healing of yourself is thus the way to remember God. For you forgot your brothers with Him, and God’s Answer to your forgetting is but the way to remember.” T-12.II.1-2
The very power to manifest miracles is inherent of what we are:
“Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the rituals you have devised. It is inherent in the truth of what you are.” W-pI.77.2
“what you are you must learn to remember.” T-6.V.C.5
The path to true remembering is through the Holy Spirit:
“He (the Holy Spirit) is perfectly aware that you do not know yourself, and perfectly aware of how to teach you to remember what you are.” T-12.VI.2
Yes, He will teach us but we must first “Listen, and you will learn how to remember what you are.” T-10.V.11
When remembrance comes, “You are entitled to miracles because of what you are. You will receive miracles because of what God is. And you will offer miracles because you are one with God.
“Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the rituals you have devised. It is inherent in the truth of what you are. W-pI.77.1-2
This understanding leads to unlimited power:
“The Oneness of the Creator and the creation is your wholeness, your sanity and your limitless power. This limitless power is God’s gift to you, because it is what you are.” T-7.VI.10
This remembrance will bring “perfect healing.”
“Into this empty space, from which the goal of sin has been removed, is Heaven free to be remembered. Here its peace can come, and perfect healing take the place of death.” T-27.I.10.
Discovering this remembrance of our true identity is the purpose of the Course itself:
“This course will teach you how to remember what you are, restoring to you your Identity. We have already learned that this Identity is shared. The miracle becomes the means of sharing It.” T-14.X.12
SHARING
The Course stresses many times that we must assist and join with our brothers to obtain heaven. Here it tells is the effect on our health by going it alone:
“For healing is the opposite of all the world’s ideas which dwell on sickness and on separate states. Sickness is a retreat from others, and a shutting off of joining. It becomes a door that closes on a separate self, and keeps it isolated and alone. Sickness is isolation. For it seems to keep one self apart from all the rest, to suffer what the others do not feel.” W-pI.137.1-2
True miracles happen through sharing:
“You have done miracles, but it is quite apparent that you have not done them alone. You have succeeded whenever you have reached another mind and joined with it. When two minds join as one and share one idea equally, the first link in the awareness of the Sonship as One has been made.” T-16.II.4
Those who are centered on themselves alone will not be able to manifest miracles for “God cannot be remembered alone” T-12.II.2, for we, along with our brothers, must tune into where we were in creation to become miracle workers.
We are told that “The cause of pain is separation, not the body, which is only its effect” T-28.III.5
If the cause of pain and illness is separation, then the cure is again to be united:
“No one is sick if someone else accepts his union with him. His desire to be a sick and separated mind can not remain without a witness or a cause. And both are gone if someone wills to be united with him.” T-28.IV.7
Not only must healing be shared but it is also essential to enter back into the kingdom of heaven:
“The Kingdom cannot be found alone, and you who are the Kingdom cannot find yourself alone.” T-8.III.6.
On the other hand, we do not want to share in the illusions or sickness of our brothers:
We should not “give support to someone’s dream of sickness and of death. It means that you share not his wish to separate, and let him turn illusions on himself.” T-28.IV.1
The Course stresses that we are all in this together and healing is a shared experience:
“Do not accept your brother’s variable perception of himself for his split mind is yours, and you will not accept your healing without his. For you share the real world as you share Heaven, and his healing is yours. To love yourself is to heal yourself, and you cannot perceive part of you as sick and achieve your goal. Brother, we heal together as we live together and love together.” T-11.VIII.11
We find that union and sharing are the ultimate healing solution:
“Healing is shared. And by this attribute it proves that laws unlike the ones which hold that sickness is inevitable are more potent than their sickly opposites. Healing is strength. For by its gentle hand is weakness overcome, and minds that were walled off within a body free to join with other minds, to be forever strong.” W-pI.137.8
ACIM and Orthodox Medicine
Many students read along in the Course about the principles of healing and think it is wonderful how a healed mind in tune with heaven can have perfect health, but then when the moment comes that illness threatens, what do they do?
Do they review the Course’s teachings that “illness is a form of magic” T-5.V.5 and seek to apply the non-magical instructions of the Course in healing?
Often the answer is no. Instead of using ACIM principles, they seek orthodox healing techniques which the Course says “are restatements of magic principles.” T-2.IV.4
I am reminded of a good friend I had a few years back who was an avid student of spiritual philosophy and alternative medicine. Seemingly, out of the blue she developed cancer, and after the doctors scared the dickens out of her with a diagnosis and needed treatment, she seemed to throw all her previous beliefs out the window and placed all her faith in orthodox medicine. She lived a few months more in great pain and distress before a painful death took her.
I see this happening with ACIM students. They study the Course and think it is great, but then when they get a few sniffles they run to their doctor, take antibiotics, and whatever else the establishment advises.
The Course uses the word “magic” quite a lot in describing illness as well as the orthodox methods of treating it. Concerning physical illness, it says:
“Only the mind is capable of error. The body can act wrongly only when it is responding to misthought. The body cannot create, and the belief that it can, a fundamental error, produces all physical symptoms. Physical illness represents a belief in magic. The whole distortion that made magic rests on the belief that there is a creative ability in matter which the mind cannot control.” T-2.IV.2
So, the health problems caused by magic comes from the belief “that there is a creative ability in matter which the mind cannot control.”
Then it tells us that it is wrong minded to attempt to cure magically-induced disease with magical treatments on the body.
“All material means that you accept as remedies for bodily ills are restatements of magic principles. This is the first step in believing that the body makes its own illness. It is a second misstep to attempt to heal it through non-creative agents.” T-2.IV.4
“Magic is the mindless or the miscreative use of mind. Physical medications are forms of “spells,” T-2.V.2
So, if we do not use orthodox healing techniques, what should we do?
First of all, the Course tells us that if we follow its precepts, we will never be ill in the first place. We’ve already covered numerous statements to this effect that if we follow the teachings on love, forgiveness, correct use of mind, etc., the health of the body will take care of itself.
Unfortunately, none of us are perfect and just about all of us have physical challenges now and then. So, when this happens what should we do?
The problem is that any illness we have is generated through a misuse of the mind and has nothing to do with the body itself according to ACIM. Since the illness is caused by belief in magic outside the mind, the tendency is to seek for a cure in the same place. We thus seek for outside doctors and medicines that treat the body when in reality the mind has the problem that needs correction. We are told that:
“The body cannot heal, because it cannot make itself sick. It needs no healing. Its health or sickness depends entirely on how the mind perceives it, and the purpose that the mind would use it for.” T-19.I.3
The creative power of the mind is all powerful and if we use it correctly, we are told we will never be ill in any way and even death will be overcome. Some Course students are overwhelmed by the ideals the Course presents to us and are dismayed by their inability to reach them. Some feel uneasy seeking orthodox means of healing because of the statements ACIM made about them. It is stressed that using the laws of God is associated with the mind and the laws of the ego with the body:
“When you heal, you are remembering the laws of God and forgetting the laws of the ego.” T-7.IV.2
Orthodox medicine is thus ego centered, and the Course gives some controversial statements about certain practices. As of this writing, vaccination is a hot topic among Course students. It says this:
“Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you…You really think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed into your veins through a sharpened needle will ward off disease and death.” W-pI.76.3
So right here it dismisses the need for prescription drugs as well as natural supplements in pill form. The “sharpened needle” would refer to vaccinations and other medical injections.
In that same section these thoughts are reinforced. It speaks of “‘laws’ we have believed we must obey. These would include, for example, the ‘laws’ of nutrition, of immunization, of medication, and of the body’s protection in innumerable ways… Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today.” W-pI.76.
The Course even dismisses the use of glasses to improve vision:
“Thus you believe that you can change what you see by putting little bits of glass before your eyes. This is among the many magical beliefs that come from the conviction you are a body, and the body’s eyes can see.” W-pI.92.1
One may wonder how the scribe Helen Schucman felt about this since she wore glasses. Not only that, but both she and Kenneth Wapnick died after a painful bout with cancer. Helen, though, told us that she was far from the perfect student of the Course. There were parts of the Course that even she had difficulty in accepting.
In speaking of magical or orthodox dealings with pain it says:
“All belief in magic is maintained by just one simple-minded illusion;–that it works. All through their training, every day and every hour, and even every minute and second, must God’s teachers learn to recognize the forms of magic and perceive their meaninglessness.” M-16.11
So, the Course acknowledges that orthodox treatments work, but if true teachers see correctly, they will “perceive their meaninglessness.”
Then Jesus is quoted as saying this:
“I am repeating here a Biblical injunction of my own, already mentioned elsewhere, that if my followers eat any deadly thing it shall not hurt them. This is what Cayce could NOT believe, because he could not see that, as a Son of God, he WAS invulnerable.” UR T 3 C 39
Here Jesus was referring to this scripture concerning believers:
“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:18
So, if miracle workers accept the laws of God above the laws of the ego, they will be “invulnerable” and can even “eat any deadly thing it shall not hurt them.”
The question is – how many are awake enough to be invulnerable and not be subject to the laws of the ego? Even Socrates, as evolved as he was, died when he ate the poison hemlock. How many students do we know that are of the caliber of Socrates, let alone Jesus?
Apparently, just proclaiming that you believe is not enough. There are Christian groups that take this scripture seriously and handle deadly snakes to demonstrate their faith and some get bitten and die. While the Corona Virus has been raging, some Christian ministers have publicly declared they are invulnerable to it because of their faith, yet have caught it and died. The media loves to publish stories of such people and make light of their faith.
Yes, there have been many who fell short in their faith, but there have been a few who have not and many students of the Course have reported witnessing miracles in their lives. The problem, even for a strong believer who has witnessed some miracles, is this. Under the law of God there is no order of difficulty in miracles, but under the ego there definitely is. It is very difficult for the mind of even the most fervent believer of ACIM to fully accept that there is no order of difficulty.
He can therefore accept the idea that a certain disease may be cured by a miracle, but raising the dead or moving a mountain is another matter. How many can fully accept something like these that seems utterly impossible to the ego? None that I know of to the point where they can accomplish them. Or how about restoring the sight to one blind from birth as did Jesus?
For the rank-and-file students, letting go of this order of difficulty by the mind is a great obstacle, and though there may be some who make such claims, rare are the actual demonstrations of such power and invulnerability.
Fortunately, for those of us who have not yet reached invulnerability, the Course recognizes that most have need for some of the ego’s magic. Many who seem spiritually evolved and shun orthodox treatments still wear glasses, take food supplements, and are selective about their diet. For those lacking in full-fledged faith in invulnerability, the Course indicates it is because we have a fear of using the mind to heal above applying medicines to the body. It says:
“If you are afraid to use the mind to heal, you should not attempt to do so. The very fact that you are afraid makes your mind vulnerable to miscreation. You are therefore likely to misunderstand any healing that might occur, and because egocentricity and fear usually occur together, you may be unable to accept the real Source of the healing. Under these conditions, it is safer for you to rely temporarily on physical healing devices, because you cannot misperceive them as your own creations. As long as your sense of vulnerability persists, you should not attempt to perform miracles.” T-2.V.2
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So, if we perceive ourselves vulnerable enough to need medicine, vaccinations or medical assistance to heal the body, an attempt at miracles may lead to “miscreation.” If nothing is impossible for the mind, then indeed, we must be careful what we create with our thoughts.
The Course adds this about orthodox treatments:
“All material means that you accept as remedies for bodily ills are restatements of magic principles. This is the first step in believing that the body makes its own illness. It is a second misstep to attempt to heal it through non-creative agents. It does not follow, however, that the use of such agents for corrective purposes is evil. Sometimes the illness has a sufficiently strong hold over the mind to render a person temporarily inaccessible to the Atonement. In this case it may be wise to utilize a compromise approach to mind and body, in which something from the outside is temporarily given healing belief. This is because the last thing that can help the non-right-minded, or the sick, is an increase in fear.” T-2.IV.4
Again, it associates the problem of vulnerability with fear. The problem is that fear is a very subtle thing, and many think they have no fear when they merely have fear that is suppressed that still makes them vulnerable. When the student still has vulnerabilities, we are told that the use of regular medicines is not evil, but may be the right thing to do because the “healing belief” is in the orthodox medicine. If that is where our belief is, then that is where we must go for treatment. If we believe in the medicine, the doctor or the vaccine, that is where the benefit may be until the student is able to place more faith in mind/spirit than directly treating the body.
“So do we lay aside our amulets, our charms and medicines, our chants and bits of magic in whatever form they take. We will be still and listen for the Voice of healing, which will cure all ills as one, restoring saneness to the Son of God. No voice but this can cure.” W-pI.140.10
The Course does give us an interesting hint as to how wrong thinking can cause physical problems. In speaking of Helen’s vision problems, it says:
The result is a kind of “double vision,” which would have produced an actual diplopia, if she had not settled for nearsightedness. This was an attempt to see the concrete more clearly through the ego’s eyes, without the “interference” of the longer range. Her virtual lack of astigmatism is due to her real efforts at objectivity and fairness. She has not attained them, or she would not be nearsighted. But she HAS tried to be fair with what she permitted herself to see. … B., you were more capable of a longrange view, and that is why your eyesight is good. UR T 4 C 6&9
Notice how it tells us that physical vision problems corresponds to wrong thinking. Helen’s nearsightedness was caused by “an attempt to see the concrete more clearly through the ego’s eyes, without the “interference” of the longer range.”
In addition, “Her virtual lack of astigmatism is due to her real efforts at objectivity and fairness.”
Bill had good eyesight because he was “capable of a longrange view.”
This concept that physical problems correspond to misdirected thinking has been picked up by a number alternative healers and authors. It is said, for instance, that if we allow someone to bother us too much, we may develop a headache or pain in the neck, for we see them as a pain in the neck. If one doesn’t have the backbone to stand up for himself, he may develop back problems. If we let others get under our skin, we may develop skin problems. If another does not give love when needed, he could develop problems with the heart and so on. Fear is said to greatly lower our defenses against contagious diseases.
Numerous writers who have contemplated the mind/body connection have come up with corresponding wrong thinking behind every physical problem. It is an interesting subject that a student of ACIM might want to investigate.
CONCLUSION:
The Course presents a number of ideals concerning health and healing. Sometimes it makes it sound like students should have perfect health if they just grasp its basic elements. Other times it seems to tell us that healing others who are ill is a simple matter of following the teachings. These ideals cause some students to get a little frustrated with themselves.
Let me encourage all readers to forge ahead no matter how small or great your results have been so far. Very few have mastered the teachings to be able to perform miracles as did Jesus in the Bible, but it is essential to keep in mind that he set the example of what all of us can and will eventually accomplish. The important thing is to honestly examine ourselves to see where we are now, and then to take the next step.
Copyright by J J Dewey
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