A Course in Miracles

by Helen Schucman

Do not make the pathetic error of “clinging to the old rugged cross.” The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross. Until then you are free to crucify yourself as often as you choose.

Thinking about another ego is as effective in changing relative perception as is physical interaction. There could be no better example that the ego is only an idea and not a fact.

The ego is the mind’s belief that it is completely on its own.

The problem is not one of concentration; it is the belief that no one, including yourself, is worth consistent effort.

All things work together for good. There are no exceptions except in the ego’s judgment.

Your mission is very simple. You are asked to live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego, and I do not choose God’s channels wrongly.

The Voice of the Holy Spirit does not command, because It is incapable of arrogance. It does not demand, because It does not seek control. It does not overcome, because It does not attack. It merely reminds.

Peace is the ego’s greatest enemy because, according to its interpretation of reality, war is the guarantee of its survival. The ego becomes strong in strife. If you believe there is strife you will react viciously, because the idea of danger has entered your mind. The idea itself is an appeal to the ego.

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace. I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise. I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace. I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him. I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me.

Remember always that what you believe you will teach. Believe with me, and we will become equal as teachers.

your part is only to allow no darkness to abide in your own mind.

The only way to have peace is to teach peace.

You are in an impossible situation only because you think it is possible to be in one.

The body neither lives nor dies, because it cannot contain you who are life.

If the mind can heal the body, but the body cannot heal the mind, then the mind must be stronger than the body.

Once they have chosen what they cannot complete alone, they are no longer alone.

Yet a real sense of being cannot be yours while you are doubtful of what you are. This is why vigilance is essential.

How can what is fully shared be withheld and then revealed?

By changing your mind about his for him, you help him undo the change his ego thinks it has made in him.

It is perfectly logical but clearly insane.

You cannot be totally committed sometimes.

When a brother acts insanely, he is offering you an opportunity to bless him. His need is yours. You need the blessing you can offer him. There is no way for you to have it except by giving it.

Teach no one that he is what you would not want to be.

To the Holy Spirit, it is the fundamental law of sharing, by which you give what you value in order to keep it in your mind.

When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet, they are given another chance at salvation.

I need you as much as you need me.

You cannot behold the world and know God.

It is a journey without distance to a goal that has never changed. Truth can only be experienced. It cannot be described and it cannot be explained.

Christ is in me, and where He is God must be, for Christ is part of Him.

You must remember, however, that the course states, and repeatedly, that its purpose is the escape from fear.

no response given by Him will ever be one that would increase fear.

Your brother may not know who he is, but there is a light in his mind that does know. This light can shine into yours, giving truth to his words and making you able to hear them.

You will not trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or believe that it is for you unless you hear it in others.

Because I will to know myself, I see you as God’s Son and my brother.

If you point out the errors of your brother’s ego you must be seeing through yours, because the Holy Spirit does not perceive his errors.

The Second Coming is the awareness of reality, not its return.

I have repeatedly said that beliefs of the ego cannot be shared, and this is why they are unreal.

He will tell you exactly what to do to help anyone He sends to you for help, and will speak to him through you if you do not interfere.

He is not deceived by anything you do, because He never forgets what you are.

Whenever you question your value, say: God Himself is incomplete without me.

Grandiosity is always a cover for despair.

Remember always that you cannot be anywhere except in the Mind of God. When you forget this, you will despair and you will attack.

You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality. Is it your decision to do so? You recognize from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep. Yet the instant you waken you realize that everything that seemed to happen in the dream did not happen at all. You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to were violated while you slept. Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to another, without really waking?

Do not side with sickness in the presence of a Son of God even if he believes in it, for your acceptance of God in him acknowledges the Love of God he has forgotten.

God created love, not idolatry.

Look with peace upon your brothers, and God will come rushing into your heart in gratitude for your gift to Him.

In every hurtful thought you hold, wherever you perceive it, lies the denial of God’s Fatherhood and of your Sonship.

Think like Him ever so slightly, and the little spark becomes a blazing light that fills your mind so that He becomes your only Guest.

The beginning phases of this reversal are often quite painful, for as blame is withdrawn from without, there is a strong tendency to harbor it within.

we must look first at this to see beyond it, since you have made it real. We will undo this error quietly together, and then look beyond it to truth.