05.05.24 "Behold the Great Projection"

Some ACIM students think the spiritually correct way to deal with the ego world is to ignore it. Since it is a meaningless illusion, after all, there's nothing to be done with it. These students may attach themselves to certain ACIM teachings such as, "There is no point in trying to make sense out of meaningless data. Any way you handle them results in nothing." (OrEd.Tx.8.76) Or perhaps this idea, "There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect." (OrEd.WkBk.23.2) However interpreting these quotations as meaning we should ignore the world is a distortion of the teaching.

It is important to know that when ACIM uses the term “world” it is usually speaking of the ego world that manifests the illusions of sickness, death, and other forms of separation. I believe that during the scribing this was the world that Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford primarily saw, so just saying “world” was appropriate. However it is important to know that there is another world talked about quite frequently in ACIM. It is the world manifested from the thoughts of the Holy Spirit. "There is another Maker of the world, the simultaneous Corrector of the mad belief that anything could be established and maintained without some link that kept it still within the laws of God." (OrEd.Tx.25.26) The Holy Spirit’s world is called the "real world” or sometimes the “borderland.” "This is the journey's end. We have referred to it as the 'real world.' ... Salvation is a borderland where place and time and choice have meaning still, and yet it can be seen that they are temporary, out of place, and every choice has been already made." (OrEd.Tx.26.20)

We are actually not taught to ignore either world. In fact, we are taught to be fully engaged in both worlds. I have always loved this quotation for the Biblical gravitas it has. "Behold" is one of my favorite words. "Behold the great projection, but look on it with the decision that it must be healed and not with fear." (OrEd.Tx.22.25) The word “behold” is used over 1,500 times in the Bible. The physical world of time and space is "the great projection." We are told to "behold” it, not ignore it. “Behold" means, "see or observe a thing or person, especially a remarkable or impressive one." Doesn't sound at all like ignoring anything.

Healing is an active engagement. We have been told to observe the world and that it IS impressive and it IS remarkable. Then we are told not to be in fear of the ego world for any reason, but to understand that it must be healed. I know that if I am asking the Holy Spirit for guidance on how to heal the world, that I will NOT be in fear of it. The tsk itself presupposes my dominion over the physical world. The ego world must be engaged with and corrected with the guidance from the Holy Spirit ,and with the loving support of Jesus if that idea is helpful. "If it helps you, think of me holding your hand and leading you. And I assure you this will be no idle fantasy." (OrEd.WkBk.70.13)

"No" the ego world isn't to be ignored. It's to be healed.

What about the world manifesting from the thoughts of the Holy Spirit, the real world, the borderland? That world is just to be celebrated and rejoiced in, with full engagement. “WooHoo!”

Join me on Sunday as we explore this and other ideas of salvation.

18 min.
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