12.03.06
The Obstacles to Peace - Part II (May 16, 1997)
Posted in Transcripts at 11:17 pm by miracles 
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A talk given by Linda and James Hale
Contents
- The Third Obstacle
- The Incorruptible Body
- The Fourth Obstacle:-The Fear of God.
- The Lifting of the Veil.
We began our discussion last time with the first two obstacles to peace;
1 The desire to get rid of it, and
2 The belief that the body is valuable for what it offers.
We also likened these two obstacles to a dynamic of attack, first attack outside, then attack on oneself. In this light we spoke of the third obstacle as being viewed as the ultimate payment for this attack, be it directed outward or inward. As we shall see however, this “ultimate” cost is but a veil to hide from our sight the final obstacle that peace must flow across. But more of that later, for now let us look at the third obstacle to peace.
The Third Obstacle:-The Attraction of Death.
Another explicit theme running through these first obstacles is that of the body; it’s necessity and it’s reality. In our desire to get rid of peace we need specifics to attack and retreat to. The body fulfils this role admirably. In our search for specialness our dependence on the body’s reality becomes a vehicle for our experience of pain. And now in the third obstacle, our ultimate identity, according to the ego, is proven.
We finished our last talk with a quote describing how the Holy Spirit can use the body as a tool for communication and, like the ego, is both the sender and receiver of His own messages. The final line of that particular excerpt was not quoted then; we quote it now.
Like the ego, the Holy Spirit is both the sender and the receiver. For what is sent through Him returns to Him, seeking itself along the way, and finding what it seeks. So does the ego find the death it seeks, returning it to you
T-19.IV.B.17:4-6
The ego is attracted to death, for death proves the body real and thus it proves that what can die cannot be immortal. Here we see the purpose behind our special relationships exposed, for they are the vehicles for our continuing to make the body our reality. They are vehicles for making death an inevitability.
Yet, with our invitation to the Holy Spirit to enter into our special relationships we have accepted another purpose. We have renounced death, for we have renounced “life” as defined by the ego, an apparent “life” which is really just the other side of death. Death is merely a story told by a dishonest storyteller. A story we choose to believe, just as we choose to believe in our guilt for the sin we think we have committed. Yet just as this guilt is a false witness, so too is death and it’s attraction, for forgiveness will set us free.
We know that an idea leaves not its source. 15 And death is the result of the thought we call the ego, as surely as life is the result of the Thought of God.
T-19.IV.C.2:14-15
So, sin, guilt and death are but the consequences of the thought called the ego, just as innocence and life follow from the Thought of God. There is no compromise in this, there is no middle ground. God knows not of sin nor guilt nor death. For us to believe otherwise is the height of arrogance, for to believe in death is to oppose the Will of God. All who follow the orders of the ego will die, for that is their payment. All of us here do follow those orders and will die unless we choose against them.
But what obeys it not, it cannot kill
T-19.IV.C.4:8
Until we make that choice we are dedicated to death and corruption, yet the Course reassures us we can choose otherwise and dedicate ourselves to the incorruptible. In doing so we would also keep the body incorruptible, not in form but in purpose. Of itself the body is nothing but a “tiny, mad idea of corruption. ” (T-19.IV.C.5:6) A thought, “made” material, of unity disrupted, separation made real, of communication broken between the Father and the Son. Death seems simply a natural corruption of life, the ultimate disruption of communication. Yet it is all based on a “tiny, mad idea,” an idea that can, and indeed has, been corrected. This correction, this Answer, given by God is here, now and forever, simply awaiting its acceptance. In asking the Holy Spirit to enter your relationship you have accepted the Answer.
Jesus demonstrated that death does not break communication. It is a demonstration of the power of the miracle, a demonstration that the body will only serve the purpose to which it is put.
In our strange, twisted delusion we seem to fear death yet see it also as some great release, a place of safety and peace. We say, “Rest in Peace” in our hope that death will bring an end to the conflict we experience throughout our life. Yet we are reminded that in relation to the end of conflict;
Only God’s Answer is its end
T-19.IV.C.7:4
Death is the ultimate symbol of the ego’s victory over God, the ultimate tribute to lifelessness over life itself. A mad dream in which we scream out asking for release from the pain, the fear, and the body. Yet we are now asked to see the dream for what it is and rather than seek release from the body, release the body from the role we have given it. Forgive it for failing the impossible demands we have placed upon it. Forgive it for our dedication of it to death and release it from the proof that God is defeated. Death seems to be the culmination of all our failings and foibles, of all our hopes and desires. Death seems to be the final payment, regardless of what we have done or hope to do. Death remains a reminder of our ever present experience of sin whenever we feel but a twinge of guilt, anxiety or pain. Yet even though the world may seem to validate the form of all these symbols, we are simply asked to remember their source and the falsity of what that source is. We are asked to remember that we have a Friend we can call on and ask…
Take this from me and look upon it, judging it for me.
Let me not see it as a sign of sin and death, nor use it for destruction.
Teach me how not to make of it an obstacle to peace, but let You use it for me, to facilitate its coming.
T-19.IV.C.11
The Fourth Obstacle:-The Fear of God.
As we stated in our first talk, the first three obstacles can be looked at in relation to the use for, and belief in attack. In this, they are all based upon the belief in the reality of the body, what it offers, what it provides and what it can be used for. It is this master act of diversion, of distraction and deception that keeps us from looking at the fourth obstacle. It is, indeed, only as we begin to see past the third obstacle that we even become aware that the fourth obstacle exists.
The section dealing with the fourth obstacle opens with a question which refers back to the previous obstacle.
What would you see without the fear of death?”
T-19.IV.D.1:1
What we would see, very simply, is life and Life is the Creator, our Father. The ego knows that if we were to truly remember the Father, it’s world would end;
For here your world does end.
T-19.IV.D.1:6
There is a part of us that is eternally attracted to life because it is us. It is that attraction which enables us to surmount each obstacle to peace:
< blockquote >From beyond each of the obstacles to love, Love Itself has called.
T-19.IV.D.5:6
It is for this very reason that the ego needed to create a world which would keep us attracted to it, a world which would prove we are indeed separate, but according to the ego, not finally responsible for. It’s power to maintain itself diminishes as we choose to forgive, rather than blame; as we begin to see that pleasure is not to be found in the body when it is used as an end rather than a means; and as we begin to question our previous bodily identification, such that if the body “dies”, we die. The ego then brings out it’s trump card in it’s game of bluff–the fear of God.
The Course suggests that we have made a secret vow, a bargain with the ego never to let the “darkest veil”, the fear of God, be lifted. Here we come to the dark night of the soul where we glimpse the memory of our loving Father only to be assailed by the ego trying to convince us of it’s version of truth, it’s story of treachery, betrayal and our part in it. A vengeful god, out to punish us for our sins. Now we have broken our vow with the ego, the vow we made when we first turned to it in the belief we had done the impossible. This was the “solution” as well as the “problem”:
“Forget your Father, He is no more! Listen, instead to me and I will protect you.”
As only the ego can betray, so does it see only betrayal.
This is not a comfortable place as Jesus remarks:
And now you stand in terror before what you swore never to look upon
T-19.IV.D.6:1
We all will come to this point. Perhaps we will approach it many times only to retreat from the apparent cost, for it does have a cost. The cost is everything we think we know or remember. The cost is the losing of our “friends” and “protectors,” sin, guilt, death , the ego and it’s world. This is the world we have sought to make our “home”.
Yet the Course reassures us, the abandonment of this world is our will and therefore it is only a matter of time until we do choose again and choose for all time. And that is because of the power of what attracts us beyond the veil:
For what attracts you from beyond the veil is also deep within you, unseparated from it and completely one.
T-19.IV.D.7:7
The discussion of the four obstacles has shown us not only the depth of our resistance to truth, but also gives us an indication of how that resistance is made manifest. This culminates in the final facing of the apparent terror associated with the fear of God Himself.
The Course is also practical, as well as simple, and in the lifting of the veil we are told in practical terms how we are offered the opportunity to face and surmount all the obstacles to peace in a gently unfolding and loving way.
The “lifting of the veil” section opens by reiterating the central theme , a theme which has threaded its way through all the obstacles to peace, the theme of the holy relationship. We have come this far on the journey because we entered into a holy relationship, something which the ego, by its very nature, cannot be privy to. The One Who has guided us through the entire process is with us, and we are reassured;
The Guide Who brought you here remains with you, and when you raise your eyes you will be ready to look on the terror with no fear at all
T-19.IV.D.8:6
But, we cannot reach this stage, until we have first raised our eyes and looked upon our brother with complete forgiveness, therefore seeing past his seeming errors. This is the place we are called to stand before, time after time, until we are willing to choose. This is the seeming place of terror where we can let our brother go free or hold him bound and us with him. This is the practice of the Atonement, a practice in which the Holy Spirit is our Guide and our brother is our mirror, reflecting the truth of what we are, the Christ.
As if to emphasise the importance of forgiveness and the collaborative nature of salvation, the Course repeats in the next paragraph:
No one can look upon the fear of God unterrified, unless he has accepted the Atonement and learned illusions are not real. No one can stand before this obstacle alone, for he could not have reached this far unless his brother walked beside him
T-19.IV.D.9:1-2
Once we reach this point, we are asked to enter into another holy instant, an instant which signifies the completion of what we began when we first joined with our brother without self interest. This instant represents the culmination of the purpose which we accepted, when we accepted the Holy Spirit’s purpose as our own.
And here, another act of Grace is bestowed on us, for we are reassured that the innocence we need to look upon the fear of God, will be given us.
And let us join in faith that He Who brought us here together will offer you the innocence you need, and that you will accept it for my love and His.
T-19.IV.D.9:7
The veil of the fear of God lifts when we make the choice for God once and for all. In reality, we were able to make this choice in the first holy instant, and yet we were not yet ready to accept the Holy Spirit’s purpose as our only one. Instead we chose to wander off, seeking the purpose of specialness–the special hate of non-forgiveness or the special love associated with the idolatry of the body.
The journey’s end can only be accomplished if we choose, wholly without compromise, Love’s purpose, and cease to find any in the world. Complete forgiveness is the means and once it is accepted we are sane.
To look upon the fear of God does need some preparation. Only the sane can look on stark insanity and raving madness with pity and compassion, but not with fear.
T-19.IV.D.11:1-2
While we wander in the world, apparently separate from others, we have yet to learn the lesson that as we see our brother we see our self. If we see any trace of guilt within our brother we believe we are guilty and will therefore be afraid. Holding onto guilt is the opposite of accepting the Innocence which the Atonement proclaims is the truth about us.
So, once again, the Course brings us face to face with the only choice which ever confronts us: to look upon sin and guilt as defining the truth of what we are, or to hand over our judgements in the faith that the One Who truly knows will reinterpret them so that our perception becomes wholly benign. As we see our brother, is how we see our self and how we see God. Perception is self referential and total; no part can be separated and changed in nature from another part:
You are afraid of God because you fear your brother
T-19.IV.D.11:5
Herein lies the key to the Course’s practice: God cannot be reached in separation and isolation to our brothers, rather, as we heal our relationship with our brothers, our readiness to allow the remembrance of God to return is increased.
Brother, you need forgiveness of your brother, for you will share in madness or in Heaven together. And you and he will raise your eyes in faith together, or not at all
T-19.IV.D.12:7-8
We choose what it is our brother will be — friend or enemy, sinner or Christ. As we choose, so shall we give and as we give so shall we receive in return. This process, in the hands of the ego, will ensure we remain enslaved in our own experience; given over to the Holy Spirit, it is the process of redemption. So any instant when we experience an obstacle to peace; a temptation to perceive ourselves, our brother or a situation lovelessly, represents an opportunity to choose again.
The problem is not that we experience obstacles to peace; they are a given in our present delusional experience of what we are. We become enslaved only when we hold onto to these obstacles, preferring the apparent reality of what they speak of, rather than making a choice for the truth of what we are. This is the good news for all Course students who are inclined to judge themselves for having ego thoughts; it is those very ego thoughts which can facilitate the coming of peace. Recall the prayer at the end of the third obstacle. Towards the end of the text, in the section called “Choose Once Again” we have the beautiful statement:
Be never fearful of temptation, then, but see it as it is; another chance to choose again, and let Christ’s strength prevail in every circumstance and every place you raised an image of yourself before
T-31.VIII.4:2
It is by choosing the strength of Christ, that the place of crucifixion becomes the holy place of redemption. In the resurrection we are one because, together we have awakened to the truth of what we are as one. It was only in death that we appeared to be separate.
Let us give redemption to each other and share in it, that we may rise as one in resurrection, not separate in death.
T-19.IV.D.17:5
We are being invited to make the final, and in fact the only choice, with Jesus. Jesus offers us complete forgiveness; the only way we can know we have accepted his gift is if we ourselves give it. In this way we prepare together for the end of the journey–the remembrance of the Father and the awakening into our Heavenly nature.
And yet, even at this point we can tarry, so Jesus once again asks us to think carefully about how we would look upon our brother, and to cease trying to find meaning in the world apart from the Holy Spirit’s. He is aware of our dilemma:
You and your brother stand together, still without conviction they [the world and the journey through it] have a purpose
T-19.IV.D.21:6
We have not yet reached the point of completely accepting that the only purpose can be the Holy Spirit’s, there only appears to be other purposes.
The Answer, however, has been given, and it is only a matter of time until we accept that that Answer is our Will.
At that point we are finally prepared.
Together we will disappear into the Presence beyond the veil, not to be lost but found; not to be seen but known
T-19.IV.D.19:1
Linda & James Hale
Portions from A Course in Miracles Copyright © 1975, 1985, 1992 reprinted by permission of the Foundation for Inner Peace, Inc.
The ideas represented herein are the personal interpretation of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the copyright holder. “