Notes on the Text of A Course in - Stephen Wingate

of the secret vow we each make to ourselves and
each other.
•
I condemn you because I first condemned myself.
When I forgive you, I forgive myself. We share the
same need to be free of the ego's belief in sin and
guilt. We share the same need to unite in our true
Identity as Christ. We are the same in truth, and the
same in the illusion.
•
By identifying with the separate ego and body we are
condemning ourselves to the temporal existence of
birth, suffering and death. All to prove that
separation from God is real, and we are special
separate egos. What a shallow "victory" indeed!
•
You cannot trust anyone because you believe you
were born in sin, separation and selfishness; and you
have projected your sin, separation and selfishness
onto all your brothers — how can you trust them
when you have condemned yourself, their maker?
The world you made and live in is an abysmal
battleground projected from your mind where you
believe the original battle was won in the separation
from your Creator. And in the world you made you
are all alone; brotherless and Fatherless.
•
The ego's purpose for the body and world is as a
home, and a depository of our sin and guilt, in order
to maintain our separate existence. The Holy Spirit's
purpose of the body and world is as a classroom to
learn forgiveness, and to remember the truth of who
we are as the one Son of God.
•
We perceive the world we have projected. The
projection of a separate world serves as a means to
proving our separate ego-self is real. Projection
makes perception. I wish to perceive myself as a
special separate self apart from God; so I project a
special separate world to fulfill my wish. The world
you see is the world you wish to see, and then made
as you wished it be. The world serves the purpose
you give it.
•
I destroyed God and crucified His Son so I could
glorify my own special separate bodily existence.
•
We cherish and defend our special identity with the
separate ego-body — even to the death.
•
Forgiveness is absolute, unconditional, and all
inclusive with not even one exception. All your dark,
<strong>Notes</strong> on the Text of A Course in Miracles
84
secret sins must be brought to the light of the Holy
Spirit's love. All illusions must be brought to the
truth.
This chapter addresses the importance of our
forgiveness of God. Forgiveness of our brothers is a
reflection of our decision to forgive God for what He
never did.
•
Through forgiveness, our special relationships
become the holy relationship.
•
The purpose of our special relationships with our
brothers is to maintain our separate existence. The
purpose of the holy relationship is to realize our
shared Identity with Christ in Spirit through our
shared function of forgiveness in the world. In the
world, we are one in purpose: Forgiveness and
Atonement. In Spirit we are one in God.
•
We share the same nightmare of separation from
God; and we share the same need to awaken to the
truth of our Identity with God.
•
Forgiveness of our brothers helps us go beyond the
final obstacle to peace which is our fear of God's all
inclusive love. In God's all inclusive love our
specialness is dissolved.
•
God's love excludes no one. The ego's special love
excludes all except the "special" one, and in truth is
not love, but hate veiled with a smile.
•
Salvation is seeing the holiness in our brother.
Bondage is seeing the sin and guilt in our brother.
•
The one purpose of the world is to heal God's Son of
the belief in separation and specialness through
forgiveness and the Atonement. Who is God's Son? I
am — God's Son is me. I see everything in my daily
life as an opportunity to learn this lesson and fulfill
this purpose. No longer does the world serve the
purpose of keeping me asleep in the nightmare of
specialness.
•
The laws of chaos served to keep the Son asleep in
the world of separation. The laws of forgiveness and
the Atonement serve to awaken the Son to the truth
of his shared identity in spirit.