Eternal Thoughts and Ideas
A Course in Miracles teaches of things that are eternal and those which are not. It tells us that anything that is in this world which has form has a beginning and an end, even “the stars will disappear in light, and the sun that opened up the world to beauty will vanish.” T-17.II.4 “the time will come when all things visible will have an end.” C-4.1 In heaven, “nothing that the eyes have ever seen or ears have heard remains to be perceived.” T-27.III.7
So, what are things that are eternal then? This would be that which is formless, invisible and has no manifestation in time and space. The Course tells us of two such things which are
[1] Thoughts
“What is thought by the Mind of God is eternal, being part of creation.” W-pI.45.3
“Thoughts are not born and cannot die. They share the attributes of their creator, nor have they a separate life apart from his. The thoughts you think are in your mind, as you are in the Mind which thought of you.” T-30.III.6
[2] Ideas
The second is an idea, for we are taught of “of ideas that are eternal.” T-9.IV.4
And where do ideas come from?
“Every idea begins in the mind of the thinker. Therefore, what extends from the mind is still in it, and from what it extends it knows itself.” T-6.III.1
It only makes sense when you think of it that an idea cannot be destroyed. Let us take the idea of a house for example. You can manifest that idea by building a house but the physical house is temporary and will eventually fall apart and be destroyed. But the idea of a house is eternal so another can take the idea and build another house – and then another. Ideas are eternal and cannot be destroyed.
This would apply to bad ideas as well as good. Take the idea of war, which most think is a bad idea. When we finished World War I, which was called the war to end all wars, we find that the idea remained and resurfaced in World War II and other wars.
The manifestation in form of all ideas is temporary, but the idea itself always remains.
So how about the craziest idea of all, according to ACIM?
“Into eternity, where all is one, there crept a tiny, mad idea, at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh. In his forgetting did the thought become a serious idea, and possible of both accomplishment and real effects.” T-27.VIII.6
So, the “thought” which the Course says “cannot die” manifests as “a serious idea” and ideas cannot be destroyed.
We are also told that “Ideas are of the mind…. ideas leave not their source.” T-26.VII.4
And within whose mind is the source of the mad idea?
The Sonship
And since ideas leave not their source where will this idea eternally remain?
The Sonship.
Does this mean that because of freewill that there is no way to prevent the mad idea from manifesting again, even after this world ends?
So far powerful evidence from ACIM tells us that ideas are eternal and cannot be destroyed.
Ideas fall into two categories,
First are those that are in harmony with heaven and create no form that can be perceived in time and space. The second are ideas that are not in harmony with Spirit and these create temporary forms in this world such as a flower, a body, a planet etc. Unlike creations in heaven all physical forms have a beginning and an end
Even though all form is a part of the “mad idea” the Course does recognize the value of the ideas behind the forms as in this quote:
“In you is all of Heaven. Every leaf that falls is given life in you. Each bird that ever sang will sing again in you. And every flower that ever bloomed has saved its perfume and its loveliness for you.” T-25.IV.5
We see that the idea of a bird “will sing again in you” even though its body that does the singing is a part of the mad idea. Then too, the loveliness of that form we call the flower is saved. Each leaf that dies and falls will be given life again.
Those in this world consider these and other forms to be of great value, but they are still a part of the mad idea that ends in separation. But even though the body of a bird or a human or a planet cannot enter heaven the idea behind them is eternal and cannot be destroyed.
So, what happens when this current universe dies and all the stars, birds, flowers and people are no longer there? It would seem as if nothing exists but heaven as described by ACIM.
Not quite. The idea of the universe of time and space remains and since we have free will a part of the Sonship could manifest it all over again.
Those of us who have spent millions of years in the separation and have returned would most likely have little interest in participating in a repeat, but other parts of the Sonship who have not yet experienced time and space would be curious about the experience just as we were.
The Son didn’t see the humor in the mad idea as did the Father and because what the Son recreates is eternal the idea “become a serious idea, and possible of both accomplishment and real effects.”
This seems to be the one thing the Father denied the Son, but the Son did the closest thing to it by creating the illusion that seemed real. The idea was thought in heaven so it cannot be destroyed and if a Son through freewill wants dream up another ego then the ego can remanifest a world like this all over again.
Consider this:
“Yet He has created the Holy Spirit as the Mediator between perception and knowledge. Without this link with God, perception would have replaced knowledge FOREVER in your mind.” W-pI.43.1
Because what the Son creates is eternal then he would have been trapped in the dream forever if God had not intervened and created the Holy Spirit. Because of the Holy Spirit we can wake up, but the Sonship still has the free will to dream again.
From the reaction I have received to the above it seems that many are missing the point of what I am posting in that they are not differentiating between an idea and the manifestation of the idea.
The idea itself, whether good or bad, is formless and that which is formless cannot be destroyed. On the other hand, the manifestation of an idea can take form, but when it does it always comes to an end.
I may have an idea to bake a pie. The baking process has a beginning and an end and the pie will be devoured bringing an end to that also. A day or two afterwards one could say that it is as if I never baked the pie. All form related to the idea is gone.
But wait!!!
The idea remains and a few days later I bake another pie.
Never in the history of the universe as anyone, even God, been able to destroy an idea. We can ignore it though. I can decide to never bake another pie, so for me it will seem that the idea does not exist, but Sue down the road picks up the idea and she bakes a pie. The formless idea remains, but the form comes and goes.
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