“The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years. (T8)”
Affirmation: “The miracle substitutes for learning.”
Reflections:
1 – Collapse of Time
What a great promise! This is the collapse of time about which A Course in Miracles speaks. Jesus has said in the Text that he will alter time and space to allow us to perform miracles, and the promise made in this passage is akin.
2 – We Each Save a Thousand Years
How does the miracle substitute for learning that might take thousands of year? We ourselves are said to save a thousand years, each of us, as the world judges it. With this promise comes the realization that time can collapse and they we can do something to heal the worn and weary world of suffering.. We are meant to understand that we all can and will make a difference, once we have imparted on the “journey without distance” (quotation from ACIM) that we all must make, sooner or later. We can bring others to salvation and the real world, and then God Himself, when we are ready, awakens us. We do not choose this time, though ACIM implies that we can hasten it, because the means–in ACIM–are being explained to us by Jesus.
3 – Learning
Learning is greatly overestimated by the thinking of the world. Many of us have been quite proud of our learning ability, and we frequently want to add to what we already know by more learning. Yet ACIM also says that we sometimes want to learn things that will not last. Surely we need to go beyond this limited thinking of ours.
4 – ACOL: Time of Learning Is Over
A Course of Love continues these ACIM promises, if we do entertain the thought that ACOL is a sequel to ACIM. In ACOL, the time of learning is said to be over, and we are to come to know through observation and discovery. This does not mean (an interpretation) that we will never “learn” anything again, only that the message of salvation is ours by an altered route.
5 – Does the Road to Salvation Ever End?
We who are ACIM followers frequently think that the road to salvation never ends, that we are always to follow the next signpost and then the next. We almost fall in love with learning. But A Course of Love says that this is not the way. We can invite what is called the “elevated Self of form” at any time that we wish; it may not be granted immediately, but immediate granting is conceivable. We turn to Jesus not as our teacher, but as a companion along the way (according to ACOL). Jesus does not have the answers to every question that we will ever have because we are walking the path together, making the future real together.
6 – Trust Jesus
We cannot understand the passage above from ACIM fully, probably because it seems too good to be true. We must trust Jesus to know what he is talking about.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
I would seek today to know that there is a time for miracles, as well as a time that learning will cease. We will still discover and make observations, but we will not be encouraged to search for ever more paths to a more pristine salvation. When we think this, we are not allowing for miracles. May I know today that Your way is easy, as Jesus has said, and that I do not have to struggle anymore to effect my salvation, and definitely do not have to struggle anymore to effect my Awakening. Awakening is Your gift to me, when You know that I am ready. I pray that this readiness be sooner rather than later.
Be with me today as I walk through a sometimes stressful world. May I recognize that miracles can dissipate trials, and that the trials are a way to choose again, to make a better choice this time around. I would choose You and Your way without fail. Help me not to fail today.
Amen.
