“Now, one of the reasons that I have had little to say through the ages, especially to those who revere the leaving of the body, is that I am Mother of the ‘body’ of Christ. And I am deeply with you in the cause to bring ‘the body’ into the realm of the living.” Mirari
This somewhat controversial statement by Mary of Nazareth, received by Mari, is controversial because A Course in Miracles enthusiasts, and many A Course of Love enthusiasts, do not believe in the material world. The Workbook of ACIM says, famously, “There is no world!” We are living in illusion as long as we are in the dream that God gave us when we separated from Him. This too I believe.
Mary’s statement has something deeper, though. The body certainly seems “real” to us, and it is this “real” nature of the body that may explain why Jesus worked with Mari to bring forth A Course of Love. If read narrowly, A Course in Miracles makes our life here pretty dismal—until the Holy Spirit brings to us the “happy dreams” that he does bring. But we may still get the impression from ACIM that life on the Other Side, as spirits, is better than life in the body.
If we all believe this, we won’t want to return to the earth in the future. We will live out our lives, glad to be rid of this world. But we are the hands and feet of God (and by extension, Jesus), and if we don’t save our brothers and sisters who are lost in attack and anger, who will?
Perhaps Jesus did not at first recognize in A Course in Miracles how dismal he was making this world sound. So we have A Course of Love, and, now, Mirari, to celebrate the new world that we will be creating. A new world in which reality blossoms.
MIRACLES EACH DAY 
Hi Celia – not to be argumentative or contrary, but this feels ‘off…’ It sounds as though we’re trying to make some illusions ‘more real’ than others… am I misinterpreting this position from Mari / Mary, or is it their misinterpretation of Christ’s words in ACIM? Nothing, except for the explanation of my foolish decision for the ego, reads to be even remotely ‘dismal;’ If it did, it just means I need to hand over the issue/illusion to the Holy Spirit and ask for the correction – at which point, I would be amused at my misperception, no?
I am thinking of the anger and attack that we have to experience in this world of illusion. This is what I meant by “dismal.” Does this make more sense? Love, Celia
I believe it does… but isn’t the decision to view the experience as ‘dismal’ just a choice based on what our preconceived notions have led us to label it? What if we were wrong or mistaken in our judgement of the experience in the past and now… when it’s seemingly dismal, again? And isn’t that what the Course attempts to help us understand? That everything here in the illusion is simply ‘here’ to help us realize the true cause of our perceived suffering? Maybe an example would help if I’m not clear?
Jesus says in A Course in Miracles that we have all, at one time, or another, thought that God was cruel (this is a paraphrase from ACIM) because of what we have experienced in the world. But I am not a pessimist, and I believe that much good follows us into this world. I was particularly happy when I read years ago about the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit sends” (also in ACIM). I do not see our world as “dismal” unless we have chosen to write a particularly difficult contract, and then God Himself saves us from ourselves. Love, Celia
You are clear. And any labels we might use like “dismal” don’t take into account the illusory nature of this world. It is very helpful to me to see the world as illusion, prior to Awakening, which moves us into true reality. Love, Celia