“This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. (ACIM, T1)”
Similarly, A Course of Love makes the same assertion: “This curriculum is mandatory and so some have rebelled and will rebel against it. (The Treatises of A Course of Love: A Treatise on the New, 1.10)”
Affirmation: “a required course”
Reflections:
Many of us are still like adolescents, rebelling when something is labeled “mandatory.” Perhaps Jesus is saying here that all peoples will eventually study his curriculum, his teachings. What does this mean? Surely we live in a world in which all will not study Jesus’s words or see him as their savior. Is reincarnation the explanation?
Certainly Jesus in A Course in Miracles counsels against our taking a public stance on reincarnation. He says in the Manual of ACIM that we can discuss this concept privately, but a public stance would only limit our usefulness as teachers of God. It appears in the passage above that we must adopt reincarnation as an explanation if indeed the curriculum is mandatory for all.
But there is another way to interpret the assertions of Jesus. Perhaps he speaks only to those of us who have chosen him as our guide.
Jesus says in ACIM that his writing is always practical, and that a universal theology is impossible. A universal experience, though, is not only possible but necessary. This universal experience is, I think, what Jesus is talking about in all of these readings. And, for those of us who have chosen him as our guide, he would simply have us lay down our rebellion and listen to him. He is not talking to those who have not chosen him as their guide.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
I have chosen Jesus as my guide. He has proved to be a sure and steady guide. May I not trouble myself about anyone who would choose a different guide. May I not try to proselytize, because Jesus himself has said that we do not need to convince others of the truth of his words in A Course of Love.
Thank You for providing so sure a guide in the person of Jesus. His leadership is certain, because he has walked the whole pathway back to You. May he stand, as promised, at the end to help me if I fail to reach You by my own direction.
Amen.
ACIM Workbook Lesson for Day 145:
My mind holds only what I think with God.
Beyond this world there is a world I want.
It is impossible to see two worlds.
