The Decision to Create Peace

. . . on remembering how close we are to God

A couple of weeks ago, Scott Britton and I talked about A Course in Miracles. You can read his post and listen to our conversation on Itunes, Spotify, or Youtube.

In our dialogue, Scott reminded me of something I'd written earlier: Fear is a thing we make. Love is what we are.

I want to look more closely at that.

In "The Illusion of Needs," A Course in Miracles points out that fear is our invention. It is a thing we make, and in which we believe because we made it. Belief, says the Course, "produces the acceptance of existence" (T-1.VI.4:4).

Therefore, both the causes of fear - the people, places, and situations of which we are scared - as well as fear's effects (stress, anger, depression, resentment et cetera) appear to lay outside our control. We are victims.

We believe in what we make and it effects us accordingly. Why wouldn't it? We bake a pie, we don't walk around doubting its existence. We aren’t confused when it tastes good.

The difference is, we see that we made the pie. We do not see that we make fear. We hide that fact from ourselves. We deny our authorship of fear. We really really don't want to see that we are doing this to ourselves.

What is the purpose of this denial?

It has to do with becoming responsible for expressing love rather than projecting fear, which means remembering our likeness unto our Creator. Even making fear is reminiscent of our divine origin. "In attitude then, though not in content, you resemble your Creator, Who has perfect faith in His creation because he created them (T-1.IV.4:3).

Is that clear? We are like unto God but we've got it backwards. God creates, His creations are good, and therefore He has faith in them.

We invent fear, it's dysfunctional and unhelpful and painful, and we are wracked with suffering accordingly.

There is another, a better, way.

All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exist at all . . . In sorting out the false from the true, the miracle proceeds along these lines:

Perfect love casts out fear.
If fear exists
Then there is not perfect love.

But

Only pefect love exists.
If there is fear,
it produces a state that does not exist (T-1.VI.5:1, 3-8).

This is the foundation of the ACIM assertion that nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists (T-in.2:2-3) which understanding is the peace of God (T-in.2:4).

To see this is to remember that our capacity for creation can be given to ego - where it will produce the illusion of fear and all the problems fear seems to bring forth - or to the Holy Spirit, who will teach us how to create peace together, in remembrance of our Creator.

At its foundation, fear is response to separation. Whatever the apparent external cause, it is always a response to the belief in separation's reality. Laughter would be more appropriate but we chose fear.

The Holy Spirit simply teaches us that fear does not work, because it produces a state that does not exist (T-1.VI.5:8), and thus invites us to "choose again," this time in favor of Love and reality.

Fear doesn't end separation because the separation isn't real. It's like being scared of werewolves. The fear is felt as if it were real - it's real fear - but if you try to solve it by ridding the world of werewolves, then the fear won't go anywhere because there is no such thing as werewolves.

In other words, it's more helpful to learn that fear is not justified, then to take it literally and try to fix its various effects and appearances. This is harder to do than it seems! This is why the Course is also a practice.

In many ways, A Course in Miracles is simply an invitation to repeatedly ask: in this situation, with this person, what would make us all happier - fear or love?

The answer is obvious, right? And its obviousness testifies to what is real and true: that you are a perfect creations of God, and your only function is to create as God does - in Love forever and ever.

Love,
Sean