23. Does Jesus Have a Special Place in Healing?
1. God’s gifts can rarely be received directly. Even the most advanced of God’s teachers will give way to temptation in this world. Would it be fair if their pupils were denied healing because of this? The Bible says, “Ask in the name of Jesus Christ.” Is this merely an appeal to magic? A name does not heal, nor does an invocation call forth any special power. What does it mean to call on Jesus Christ? What does calling on his name confer? Why is the appeal to him part of healing?
2. We have repeatedly said that one who has perfectly accepted the Atonement for himself can heal the world. Indeed, he has already done so. Temptation may recur to others, but never to this One. He has become the risen Son of God. He has overcome death because he has accepted life. He has recognized himself as God created him, and in so doing he has recognized all living things as part of him. There is now no limit on his power because it is the power of God. So has his name become the Name of God, for he no longer sees himself as separate from Him.
3. What does this mean for you? It means that in remembering Jesus you are remembering God. The whole relationship of the Son to the Father lies in him. His part in the Sonship is also yours, and his completed learning guarantees your own success. Is he still available for help? What did he say about this? Remember his promises and ask yourself honestly whether it is likely that he will fail to keep them. Can God fail His Son? And can one who is one with God be unlike him? Who transcends the body has transcended limitation. Would the greatest teacher be unavailable to those who follow him?
4. The name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol. But it stands for love that is not of this world. It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray. It becomes the shining symbol for the Word of God, so close to what it stands for that the little space between the two is lost, the moment that the name is called to mind. Remembering the name of Jesus Christ is to give thanks for all the gifts that God has given you. And gratitude to God becomes the way in which he is remembered, for love cannot be far behind a grateful heart and thankful mind. God enters easily, for these are the true conditions for your homecoming.
5. Jesus has led the way. Why would you not be grateful to him? He has asked for love, but only that he might give it to you. You do not love yourself. But in his eyes your loveliness is so complete and flawless that he sees in it an image of his Father. You become the symbol of his Father here on earth. To you he looks for hope, because in you he sees no limit and no stain to mar your beautiful perfection. In his eyes Christ’s vision shines in perfect constancy. He has remained with you. Would you not learn the lesson of salvation through his learning? Why would you choose to start again when he has made the journey for you?
6. No one on earth can grasp what heaven is, or what its one Creator really means. Yet we have witnesses. It is to them that wisdom should appeal. There have been those whose learning far exceeds what we can learn. Nor would we teach the limitations we have laid on us. No one who has become a true and dedicated teacher of God forgets his brothers. Yet what he can offer them is limited by what he learns himself. Then turn to one who laid all limits by and went beyond the farthest reaches of learning. He will take you with him, for he did not go alone. And you were with him then, as you are now.
7. This course has come from him because his words have reached you in a language you can love and understand. Are other teachers possible, to lead the way to those who speak in different tongues and appeal to different symbols? Certainly there are. Would God leave anyone without a very present help in time of trouble, a savior who can symbolize Himself? Yet do we need a many-faceted curriculum, not because of content differences, but because symbols must shift and change to suit the need. Jesus has come to answer yours. In him you find God’s answer. Do you, then, teach with him, for he is with you; he is always here.[1]
When we are called to study A Course in Miracles, Jesus Christ becomes real to us. He reaches out to us and speaks to us in words and tone and description that we can understand. We, who cannot love gods we fear, who threaten us, who enslave us, who throw temper tantrums, and pronounce war upon creation are given a Savior who symbolizes the love and grace of God Himself. For the first time in our lives we come to Jesus, not in fear of what we must sacrifice to Him, not in shame for what humans, like us, have done to Him on the cross, not in false worship and flattery in hopes of becoming one of the elect who gets to go up in the Rapture while others are left behind to suffer and scream in agony. We come to Jesus because like Him, we seek not salvation for ourselves alone. Like the One Who came and went past the farthest reaches of human learning and understanding, like Christ, we reach for the God Who Loves all of us – Who would never turn His back upon a single one of us, Who would never hold our desire for independence and our choice to be human against us. We turn to Christ because to turn to Christ is to become Christ, the Son of God. It is Christ Who would change our minds about who and what we are and who and what we will to be.
This is the season in which Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ. He came to us, born in a stable with animals. He came to us by the same means that we all show up here – through the pain, humiliation, and bloodshed of childbirth. He bore it all. We may be tempted to make an idol of the crucifixion, to call upon Jesus’ blood, to call forth his naked mortification on the cross, however, let us remember that throughout the whole story of Christ’s time on earth, he forewent the loveliness, the bountifulness, the fun and true fellowship of Heaven to teach us that we sacrifice nothing by giving up the flesh, by giving up the temporal gifts of the world, by giving up the ego alternate to Creation, and accepting the truth about ourselves and God.
Do not be afraid to stand for Christ, to accept the Sonship of God, to will with God, because to will with God is to will for what all of us really want. We want to be saved from this – we are through with the fiction, the unhappiness, the disease, the death, the sorrow. Do your best this holiday season to see past the idols of the world – do not let Santa Claus be your reason for the season! Go to the stable of humanity and with courage, name it for what it really is – do not sacrifice Heaven for the sad story of flesh and blood, of nature that preys upon itself, the history of conflict, bloodshed and spoil we find behind the games, the glitz, and glitter that would stand in place of the Kingdom from Which we came and where we truly belong.
Today in your personal devotion, recognize the part that Jesus plays in our healing and salvation. Bring your cold heart to His warmth and goodness. Forgive those who in His name would offend your sensibilities. None of us are perfect and all of us are trying our best to find our way in a maze that is designed for us to seek but never find! All of us say and do things that others find offensive; no matter how strong the Spirit within, the flesh is weak. We are not here to judge and condemn others, to harden our hearts toward each other, but to practice the forgiveness and mercy, the grace and beauty of spirit that will restore us to the constant Love that comes only from God. This Love calls to us, awakens us, and restores our consciousness to the Kingdom within us.
To sacrifice the Love of God, the Brotherhood of Christ, for the dim-witted, ill-mannered, disrespectful death sentence of the world is insanity. To see this is to have hope; to have hope is to give hope; to give hope is to stand with Christ and teach in His Name. This is my calling, and it is your calling for Christ calls to all. Today commit to the practice of letting your lack of understanding, your earthly sorrows and disappointments, your mistakes and misgivings, your spiritual highs and your spiritual lows teach you to reach for the High Mind of Christ for He is always with you and will never forsake you.
[1] A Course in Miracles. Manual for Teachers. 23. Does Jesus have a special place in healing? Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992).
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