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A Course In Miracles

CHAPTER 24: THE GOAL OF SPECIALNESS

Introduction

“Forget not that the motivation for this course is the attainment and the keeping of the state of peace. Given this state the mind is quiet, and the condition in which God is remembered is attained.” (1:1-2)

“God does not wait upon illusions to let Him be Himself. No more His Son. They are.” (1:9-11)

“To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold.” (2:1)

“No belief is neutral.” (2:3)

“For a decision is a conclusion based on everything that you believe.” (2:5)

“There is no substitute for peace.” (2:7)

“And your decisions come from your beliefs as certainly as all creation rose in His Mind because of what He knows.” (2:10)

In summary, the: “Introduction” is saying:

The entire goal of this seemingly complex, lengthy course in miracles, is peace. What is so difficult about attaining and keeping peace that it requires a book over a thousand pages long to teach it? It all comes down to our beliefs. Our peace is based upon what we think. Change what we believe and we either enter or leave a state of peace. The entirety of A Course In Miracles then, is a book that teaches us new beliefs; ones based upon the truth. Ones that lead to the attainment and the keeping of peace, for at the bottom of everything, peace is the only thing we have ever wanted.

I. Specialness as a Substitute for Love

“Love is extension. To withhold the smallest gift is not to know love’s purpose. Love offers everything forever. Hold back but one belief, one offering, and love is gone, because you asked a substitute to take its place.” (1:1-4)

“The secret enemies of peace, your least decision to choose attack instead of love, unrecognized and swift to challenge you to combat and to violence far more inclusive than you think, are there by your election.” (2:6)

“All that is ever cherished as a hidden belief, to be defended though unrecognized, is faith in specialness. This takes many forms, but always clashes with the reality of God’s creation and with the grandeur that He gave His Son.” (3:1-2)

“Only the special could have enemies, for they are different and not the same. And difference of any kind imposes orders of reality, and a need to judge that cannot be escaped.” (3:5-6)

“For specialness not only sets apart, but serves as grounds from which attack on those who seem “beneath” the special one is “natural” and “just.”” (4:4)

“Specialness is the great dictator of the wrong decisions. Here is the grand illusion of what you are and what your brother is. And here is what must make the body dear and worth preserving. Specialness must be defended.” (5:1-3)

“Would it be possible for you to hate your brother if you were like him? Could you attack him if you realized you journey with him, to a goal that is the same?” (6:1-2)

“You are his enemy in specialness; his friend in a shared purpose.” (6:4)

“Your brother is your friend because his Father created him like you. There is no difference. You have been given to your brother that love might be extended, not cut off from him.” (7:1-3)

“The fear of God and of your brother comes from each unrecognized belief in specialness.” (8:1)

“You would oppose this course because it teaches you you and your brother are alike.” (8:6)

“Those who are special must defend illusions against the truth. For what is specialness but an attack upon the Will of God?” (9:1-2)

“Here must he be your enemy and not your friend. Never can there be peace among the different. He is your friend because you are the same.” (9:6-7)

In summary, section 1: “Specialness as a Substitute for Love” is saying:

Here the word “special” is interchangeable with the word “separate” or “body.” And the word “love” of course means “union.” When understood this way, specialness is the choice to believe we are separate bodies and not One in Spirit. When we believe in our separation, by default, we also believe it is possible to compete with one another, for only what is different can be in opposition to each other. What is the same, merely rests in peace, for by its very definition, what is the same, cannot be in conflict; only differences conflict. Our beliefs must shift in order to see our shared goal of peace with all human beings. God created each of us with the same equality in His Love, not different. Only the ego sees bodies, separate, unequal, and different, but the Holy Spirit sees our Union as part of God’s peace. Peace is felt, not seen. Therefore, it is possible then, to see bodies, but feel peace, knowing the truth of our Oneness with them, despite what we may see. This is the way to undo the substitution of specialness for love.

II. The Treachery of Specialness

“Comparison must be an ego device, for love makes none. Specialness always makes comparisons.” (1:1-2)

“And always whom it thus diminishes would be your savior, had you not chosen to make of him a tiny measure of your specialness instead.” (1:5)

“Pursuit of specialness is always at the cost of peace. Who can attack his savior and cut him down, yet recognize his strong support?” (2:1-2)

“And who can use him as the gauge of littleness, and be released from limits?” (2:4)

“Specialness is the idea of sin made real.” (3:1)

“You are not special. If you think you are, and would defend your specialness against the truth of what you really are, how can you know the truth?” (4:1-2)

“The special messages the special hear convince them they are different and apart; each in his special sins and “safe” from love, which does not see his specialness at all. Christ’s vision is their “enemy,” for it sees not what they would look upon, and it would show them that the specialness they think they see is an illusion.” (5:5-6)

“What would they see instead? The shining radiance of the Son of God, so like his Father that the memory of Him springs instantly to mind.” (6:1-2)

“This is the only “cost” of truth: You will no longer see what never was, nor hear what makes no sound. Is it a sacrifice to give up nothing, and to receive the Love of God forever?” (6:5-6)

“You have come far along the way of truth; too far to falter now. Just one step more, and every vestige of the fear of God will melt away in love. Your brother’s specialness and yours are enemies, and bound in hate to kill each other and deny they are the same.” (9:1-3)

“Here is your savior from your specialness. He is in need of your acceptance of himself as part of you, as you for his.” (10:1-2)

“Not special, but possessed of everything, including you.” (10:6)

“Specialness is the seal of treachery upon the gift of love.” (12:1)

“The hope of specialness makes it seem possible God made the body as the prison house that keeps His Son from Him. For it demands a special place God cannot enter, and a hiding place where none is welcome but your tiny self.” (13:1-2)

“The death of specialness is not your death, but your awaking into life eternal. You but emerge from an illusion of what you are to the acceptance of yourself as God created you.” (14:4-5)

In summary, section 2: “The Treachery of Specialness” is saying:

Specialness is the desire to be a separate body, seemingly unique and apart from everyone else. The treachery in this desire, is that it also creates conflict where there is none in truth. In truth, it is impossible that anyone exist outside the Union of God’s Love, for it is His Love alone that sustains us. We are playing an imaginary game, creating an illusion of being something we are not, and it has us all tricked into thinking we are bodies. We are not special; meaning, we are not bodies. Would we hold onto what the body shows us as the truth, or exchange this illusion for reality, and know our shining radiance as the Son of God instead? “This is the only “cost” of truth: You will no longer see what never was, nor hear what makes no sound. Is it a sacrifice to give up nothing, and to receive the Love of God forever?” (ACIM T. CH24 II.6:5-6). Let go of the idea of being special, of being a body, and do not fall into the treachery of fallen thinking. No one here is special, no one here is a body. You have come too far along the path of truth to believe you have an enemy now, here within God’s Love.

III. The Forgiveness of Specialness

“Forgiveness is the end of specialness. Only illusions can be forgiven, and then they disappear.” (1:1-2)

“No one who clings to one illusion can see himself as sinless, for he holds one error to himself as lovely still.” (1:4)

“Whatever form of specialness you cherish, you have made sin.” (2:1)

“So does it seem to split you off from God, and make you separate from Him as its defender.” (2:4)

“It is not you who are so vulnerable and open to attack that just a word, a little whisper that you do not like, a circumstance that suits you not, or an event that you did not anticipate upsets your world, and hurls it into chaos. Truth is not frail. Illusions leave it perfectly unmoved and undisturbed. But specialness is not the truth in you. It can be thrown off balance by anything.” (3:1-5)

“God asks for your forgiveness. He would have no separation, like an alien will, rise between what He wills for you and what you will.” (5:1-2)

“Forgive the great Creator of the universe, the Source of life, of love and holiness, the perfect Father of a perfect Son, for your illusions of your specialness.” (6:1)

“The special ones are all asleep, surrounded by a world of loveliness they do not see.” (7:1)

“They are lost in dreams of specialness.” (7:4)

“The slaves of specialness will yet be free. Such is the Will of God and of His Son.” (8:1-2)

“God calls to you from him to join His Will to save you both from hell.” (8:5)

“They ask of you but that your will be done. They seek your love that you may love yourself. Love not your specialness instead of Them. The print of nails is on your hands as well. Forgive your Father it was not His Will that you be crucified.” (8:10-13)

In summary, section 3: “The Forgiveness of Specialness” is saying:

Forgiveness ends specialness, because remember that forgiveness is the end of ego thoughts. Ego thoughts are all thoughts that surround the body, or specialness. Forgiveness is stillness of thought; inner stillness of a mind that rests in peace, merely observing the chaos of the world surrounding it, but not engaging with it as a body.

“No one who clings to one illusion (of being a body) can see himself as sinless (bodiless), for he holds one error to himself as lovely still.” (1:4)

“Whatever form of specialness (being a body) you cherish, you have made sin (a way of being separate from God).” (2:1)

“So does it seem to split you off from God, and make you separate from Him as its defender.” (2:4)

Forgive your Father (see yourself a part of His Stillness of ego thought) it was not His Will that you be crucified (separated from Him and the experience of His Love).” (8:10-13)

To still your ego-thoughts; those thoughts about bodies and the world they live in; is the forgiveness of all forms of specialness.

IV. Specialness versus Sinlessness

“Specialness is a lack of truth in anyone except yourself. Faith is invested in yourself alone.” (1:1-2)

“What could the purpose of the body be but specialness?” (2:1)

“It was conceived to make you frail and helpless. The goal of separation is its curse.” (2:3-4)

“Of itself the body can do nothing. See it as means to hurt, and it is hurt. See it as means to heal, and it is healed.” (2:10-12)

“You can but hurt yourself. This has been oft repeated, but is difficult to grasp as yet. To minds intent on specialness it is impossible.” (3:1-3)

“Nothing could make less sense to specialness. Nothing could make more sense to miracles. For miracles are merely change of purpose from hurt to healing.” (3:7-9)

“Earlier I said consider not the means by which salvation is attained, nor how to reach it. But do consider, and consider well, whether it is your wish that you might see your brother sinless.” (4:1-2)

“All that is real proclaims his sinlessness. All that is false proclaims his sins as real.” (4:6-7)

“Do not defend this senseless dream, in which God is bereft of what He loves, and you remain beyond salvation. Only this is certain in this shifting world that has no meaning in reality: When peace is not with you entirely, and when you suffer pain of any kind, you have beheld some sin within your brother, and have rejoiced at what you thought was there.” (5:1-2)

“And so is specialness his “enemy,” and yours as well.” (5:6)

In summary, section 4: “Specialness versus Sinlessness” is saying:

If the word specialness is equated with the idea of being a body here, then sinlessness can be equated to bodilessness, or perfection in Spirit as God created us. We all have the human desire to be “special” somehow – we each strive for that feeling of being set apart, better or “more” than others. At the root of this feeling is the belief we are each a body – unique individuals each striving to be perfect through an identity we are really not. This is therefore a futile attempt at what can never be achieved, and it causes us much pain and suffering. The body does not make us special, but it does make us insane for our belief in it. Do we want to see our brothers and sisters as special bodies or as the sinless (bodiless) Light within the Body of Christ? What we choose to see, determines our path towards joy or away from it. What we choose to see, determines our path towards salvation or away from it.

V. The Christ in You

“The Christ in you is very still. He looks on what He loves, and knows it as Himself.” (1:1-2)

“Specialness, too, takes joy in what it sees, although it is not true.” (1:4)

“There is no dream of specialness, however hidden or disguised the form, however lovely it may seem to be, however much it delicately offers the hope of peace and the escape from pain, in which you suffer not your condemnation.” (2:1)

“Where could your peace arise but from forgiveness? The Christ in you looks only on the truth, and sees no condemnation that could need forgiveness. He is at peace because He sees no sin.” (3:1-3)

“Yet let your specialness direct his way, and you will follow.” (4:1)

“Rejoice you have no eyes with which to see; no ears to listen, and no hands to hold nor feet to guide. Be glad that only Christ can lend you His, while you have need of them.” (5:1-2)

“The Christ in you is very still. He knows where you are going, and He leads you there in gentleness and blessing all the way.” (6:1-2)

“And so He sought for you completion in each living thing that He beholds and loves.” (6:8)

“Yet is He quiet, for He knows that love is in you now, and safely held in you by that same hand that holds your brother’s in your own.” (7:1)

“The sight of Christ is all there is to see. The song of Christ is all there is to hear. The hand of Christ is all there is to hold. There is no journey but to walk with Him.” (7:7-10)

“You who would be content with specialness, and seek salvation in a war with love, consider this: The holy Lord of Heaven has Himself come down to you, to offer you your own completion.” (8:1)

“He is within you, yet He walks beside you and before, leading the way that He must go to find Himself complete. His quietness becomes your certainty. And where is doubt when certainty has come?” (9:5-7)

In summary, section 5: “The Christ in You” is saying:

The Christ in you is very still. Why is He so still? Because a mind that knows its Oneness in God has no conflict; such a mind is still, in its peace. A mind that is still, carries no thoughts about the world, the doings of bodies or fears of what may come. The Christ in us is still, because He knows there is nothing to fear, for our fears are unfounded, being founded in a world that is not our home, played out by bodies that are not who we are. To be still, is to have forgiven. For a mind that is still, is not busy wishing things were somehow different – that the circumstances the ego finds itself in, would bend to its meager will. Such is the meaning of forgiveness and the relinquishment of specialness. Do not be content with specialness; with the goals of the body. Focus instead on the One Who knows the way to peace, who teaches through the stillness of thought; the Christ in you.

VI. Salvation from Fear

“Before your brother’s holiness the world is still, and peace descends on it in gentleness and blessing so complete that not one trace of conflict still remains to haunt you in the darkness of the night.” (1:1)

“Without you there would be a lack in God, a Heaven incomplete, a Son without a Father.” (2:1)

“For what God wills is whole, and part of Him because His Will is One.” (2:3)

“Your brother’s holiness shows you that God is one with him and you; that what he has is yours because you are not separate from him nor from his Father.” (2:5)

“And no thought within His Mind is absent from your own. It is His Will you share His Love for you, and look upon yourself as lovingly as He conceived of you before the world began, and as He knows you still.” (3:3-4)

“Your brother is as He created him.” (3:6)

“Forget not that the healing of God’s Son is all the world is for.” (4:1)

“Until you see the healing of the Son as all you wish to be accomplished by the world, by time and all appearances, you will not know the Father nor yourself.” (4:3)

“Look on your brother, and behold in him the whole reversal of the laws that seem to rule this world.” (5:1)

“It is His sinlessness that eyes that see can look upon. It is His loveliness they see in everything. And it is He they look for everywhere, and find no sight nor place nor time where He is not.” (6:1-3)

“Let not your eyes be blinded by the veil of specialness that hides the face of Christ from him, and you as well.” (6:5)

“Choose, then, his body or his holiness as what you want to see, and which you choose is yours to look upon. Yet will you choose in countless situations, and through time that seems to have no end, until the truth be your decision.” (7:1-2)

“See him as what he is, that your deliverance may not be long.” (9:1)

“And both shall see God’s glory in His Son, whom you mistook as flesh, and bound to laws that have no power over him at all.” (9:5)

“Would you not gladly realize these laws are not for you? Then see him not as prisoner to them.” (10:1-2)

“And never doubt but that your specialness will disappear before the Will of God, Who loves each part of Him with equal love and care. The Christ in you can see your brother truly.” (10:6-7)

“You who believe it easier to see your brother’s body than his holiness, be sure you understand what made this judgement. Here is the voice of specialness heard clearly, judging against the Christ and setting forth for you the purpose that you can attain, and what you cannot do.” (13:1-2)

“For what you do through Christ it does not know. To Him this judgment makes no sense at all, for only what His Father wills is possible, and there is no alternative for Him to see. Out of His lack of conflict comes your peace. And from His purpose comes the means for effortless accomplishment and rest.” (13:4-7)

In summary, section 6: “Salvation from Fear” is saying:

What is the one fear from which all other fears spring? What is the fear we need salvation from? It is the fear of everything associated with the body. Without the body, we have nothing to fear, for we then know ourself as eternal in God. But until we reach such a place, we must practice fearlessness here, now in this world. We do this by perceiving each other’s holiness, our bodilessness here, now in this world. This shift in perception is our salvation; our salvation from all the fear the body brings us. The Christ in us can see truly, for He looks upon the world through stillness of thought about it. This stillness is a way of “seeing” through “feeling.” Christ’s vision is the feeling of stillness and peace within your heart that comes from ceasing to agree with what your eyes behold. You find your salvation from fear, through shifting from outer perception, to inner perception; through the feeling of your still, Oneness, with all things in God.

VII. The Meeting Place

“How bitterly does everyone tied to this world defend the specialness he wants to be the truth!” (1:1)

“No effort is too great, no cost too much, no price too dear to save his specialness from the least slight, the tiniest attack, the whispered doubt, the hint of threat, or anything but deepest reverence.” (1:6)

“What is this son that you have made to be your strength? What is this child of earth on whom such love is lavished? What is this parody of God’s creation that takes the place of yours?” (1:9-12)

“How can you know your worth while specialness claims you instead?” (3:1)

“Seek not to make your specialness the truth, for if it were you would be lost indeed. Be thankful, rather, it is given you to see his holiness because it is the truth. And what is true in him must be as true in you.” (3:3-5)

“The Father keeps what He created safe. You cannot touch it with the false ideas you made, because it was created not by you.” (5:1-2)

“What is immortal cannot be attacked; what is but temporal has no effect.” (5:4)

“The test of everything on earth is simply this; “What is it for?” The answer makes it what it is for you.” (6:1)

“This course makes no attempt to teach what cannot easily be learned.” (8:1)

“It is essential it be kept in mind that all perception still is upside down until its purpose has been understood.” (8:5)

“Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught. It is the outward picture of a wish; an image that you wanted to be true.” (8:8-10)

“Look at yourself, and you will see a body. Look at this body in a different light and it looks different. And without a light it seems that it is gone. Yet you are reassured that it is there because you still can feel it with your hands and hear it move.” (9:1-4)

“It proves its own reality to you.” (9:8)

“Thus is the body made a theory of yourself, with no provisions made for evidence beyond itself, and no escape within its sight.” (10:1-2)

“And you cannot conceive of you apart from it.” (10:4)

“And thus are two sons made, and both appear to walk this earth without a meeting place and no encounter. One do you perceive outside yourself, your own beloved son. The other rests within, his Father’s Son, within your brother as he is in you.” (11:1-3)

“Yet can perception serve another goal. It is not bound to specialness but by your choice. And it is given you to make a different choice, and use perception for a different purpose. And what you see will serve that purpose well, and prove its own reality to you.” (11:10-13)

In summary, section 7: “The Meeting Place” is saying:

There is no meeting place between our bodily identity and our true Identity in Spirit, as One in God. We either live as one or the other and only one identity can be true. How long will we continue to attempt to make the body real to us? How long will we strive to defend it against even the slightest misspoken word against us? But take heart; our false idea about who we are, cannot touch what God created us to be. Though we cannot perceive ourselves apart from the bodies we think we are now, Who We Are in Truth will not be damaged by such misconceptions. Let us change our self-perception now, today. It is given us to make a new choice, one we never knew we had. We can choose to be as God created us. Choose to see only the light of Christ in one another through feeling your Oneness with them, and you choose to go to the meeting place of yourself and God. And you thus relinquish your goal of specialness; the goal of being a body; in exchange for a new goal; the healing of God’s Son, with Whom you are One.

This concludes CHAPTER 24: THE GOAL OF SPECIALNESS

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A Course In Miracles: CHAPTER 24: THE GOAL OF SPECIALNESS