Principle 40: The miracle acknowledges everyone as your brother and mine. It is a way of perceiving the universal mark of God. (T-1.I.40:1-2)

COURSE REFERENCES

Revelation unites you directly with God. Miracles unite you directly with your brother. (T-1.II.1:5-6)

Awe should be reserved for revelation, to which it is perfectly and correctly applicable. It is not appropriate for miracles because a state of awe is worshipful, implying that one of a lesser order stands before his Creator. You are a perfect creation, and should experience awe only in the presence of the Creator of perfection. The miracle is thus a sign of love among equals. (T-1.II.3:1-4) Which would then imply that you and the Creator are not equals and that is correct, as He created you and you did not create Him.

Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to Jesus. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and to obedience for his greater wisdom. He is also entitled to love because he is a brother, and to devotion if he is devoted. It is only Jesus’ devotion that entitles him to yours. There is nothing about him that you cannot attain. He has nothing that does not come from God. The difference between you and Jesus now is that he has nothing else. This leaves him in a state which is only potential in you. (T-1.II.3:5-13)

Miracles arise from a mind that is ready for them. The impersonal nature of miracles is because the Atonement itself is one, uniting all creations with their Creator. By being united this miracle-ready mind goes out to everyone, even without the awareness of the miracle worker himself. As an expression of what you truly are, the miracle places the mind in a state of grace. The mind then naturally welcomes the Host within and the stranger without. When you bring in the stranger, he becomes your brother. (T-1.III.7:1-6)

Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation. We must begin to see the oneness of all things. Correct perception of your brother is necessary, because minds have chosen to see themselves as separate. Spirit knows God completely. That is its miraculous power. (T-3.V.9:1-4) As you align yourself with spirit you, too, will know God completely. Seeing yourself as separate is for the purpose of autonomy. After all, how can you be “better” than another unless you are separate? Joining in oneness, however, is the truth and truth is the sublime goal.

The Bible says that you should go with a brother twice as far as he asks. It certainly does not suggest that you set him back on his journey. Devotion to a brother cannot set you back either. It can lead only to mutual progress. The result of genuine devotion is inspiration, a word which properly understood is the opposite of fatigue. To be fatigued is to be dis-spirited, but to be inspired is to be in the spirit. To be egocentric is to be dis-spirited, but to be Self-centered in the right sense is to be inspired or in spirit. The truly inspired are enlightened and cannot abide in darkness. (T-4.in.1:1-8)

Jesus has said that you cannot change your mind by changing your behavior, but he has also said, and many times, that you can change your mind. When your mood tells you that you have chosen wrongly, and this is so whenever you are not joyous, then know this need not be. In every case you have thought wrongly about some brother God created, and are perceiving images your ego makes in a darkened glass. Think honestly what you have thought that God would not have thought, and what you have not thought that God would have you think. Search sincerely for what you have done and left undone accordingly, and then change your mind to think with God’s. (T-4.IV.2:1-5)

This may seem hard to do, but it is much easier than trying to think against God’s Thoughts. Your mind is one with God’s. Denying this and thinking otherwise has held your ego together, but it has literally split the thoughts of your mind. As a loving brother Jesus is deeply concerned with your mind, and urges you to follow his example as you look at yourself and at your brother, and see in both the glorious creations of a glorious father. (T-4.IV.2:6-9) Do this now.

When you are sad, know this need not be. Depression comes from a sense of being deprived of something or someone you want and do not have. Even if a brother has moved to another place, remember that it is mind that joins, not bodies. Remember, too, that you are deprived of nothing except by your own decisions, and then decide otherwise. (T-4.IV.3:1-3)

And when you are anxious, realize that anxiety comes from the capriciousness of the ego, and know this need not be. You can be as vigilant against the ego’s dictates as for them. (T-4.IV.4:1-2)

When you feel guilty, remember that the ego has violated the laws of God, but you have not. Leave the “sins” of the ego to Jesus. The spirit cannot sin because it was created perfect; the ego cannot “sin” because the ego is not real. Seeing this is what the Atonement is for. Until you change your mind about those whom your ego appears to hurt, the Atonement cannot release you. When you choose to feel guilty, you are still allowing your ego to be in command. This need not be. (T-4.IV.5:1-6)

Watch your mind for the temptations of the ego, and do not be deceived by it. It offers you nothing. When you have given up this voluntary dis-spiriting, you will see how your mind can focus and rise above fatigue and heal. Yet you are not sufficiently vigilant against the demands of the ego to disengage yourself from sadness, anxiety, guilt, etc. Again, know this need not be. (T-4.IV.7:1-4) How can you change this? You change it by being vigilant for the opposite of ego; by being vigilant for spirit!

You are a mirror of truth, in which God Himself shines in perfect light. To the ego’s dark glass you need but say, “I will not look there because I know these images are not true.” Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace, knowing that this and only this must be. His Mind shone on you in your creation and brought your mind into being. His Mind still shines on you and must shine through you. Your ego cannot prevent Him from shining on you, but it can prevent you from letting Him shine through you. (T-4.IV.9:1-6) Do not let this happen. Choose spirit.

Jesus does not attack your ego. Instead he works with your higher mind, the home of the Holy Spirit, whether you are asleep or awake, just as your ego does with your lower mind, which is its home. Jesus is your vigilance in this, because you are too confused to recognize your own hope. He is not mistaken. Your mind will elect to join with his, and together you are invincible. (Remember: May the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus.) You and your brother will yet come together in Jesus’ name, and your sanity will be restored. Jesus has called and you will answer. (T-4.IV.11:1-6,10) A call from Jesus to your mind is a joy to receive and to answer. ☺

The Kingdom of Heaven is the spirit’s right, whose beauty and dignity are far beyond doubt, beyond perception, and stand forever as the mark of the love of God for His creations, who are wholly worthy of Him and only of Him. Nothing else is sufficiently worthy to be a gift for a creation of God Himself, as only GOD IS. (T-4.I.12:5-6)

Prayer:

Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts to me, Your Son. And every one I give returns to me, reminding me the law of love is universal. Amen. (W-345.1:1-2)