Commentary for Cameo Essay 12 – “Defenses Are Now Being Used Much Better”
February 19, 2021
This essay is another window into the mind of Helen and her relationship with Jesus. It starts with Helen feeling “intensely depressed” but was resolved in part by Jesus’ assurance to her: “I will never leave you or forsake you” (p. 1755). She felt a strong assurance of love and her “own great value, beauty, and purity” (p. 1756).
Helen heard (as she had in an earlier episode which we reviewed in Cameo 8), Jesus say, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto you according to His word.” She panicked as she had in the earlier episode but was able to turn this around. She remembered she had misperceived that earlier time. She now understands that it only is a statement of allegiance to Divine Service.
She was not entirely done misperceiving however, as she then perceived a sequence where Christ (we must presume Jesus) was making sexual advances. The thought is embarrassing just thinking about it. I cannot imagine how it felt to be Helen to then review that sequence of perception with Jesus. Yet this is what they did the very next day:
This morning we reviewed the whole episode. He said he was very pleased at the comparative lack of fear, and also the concomitant awareness that it was a misperception. This showed much greater strength, and a much-increased right-mindedness. This is because defenses are now being used much better, on behalf of truth more than error, though not completely so (p. 1758).
Jesus completely circumvents the actual misperceptions and fear that Helen exhibited. He instead offers a critique of her own response to her fear and misperception. She recognized it was neither healthy nor accurate, and thus she denied the error in acceptance of the truth. To deny error in this way is to use defenses appropriately.
In Section IV we received a reinterpretation of certain defenses, among them: dissociation, detachment, regression, flight, distantiation, withdrawal. Rather than part ways with all these learned defenses, Jesus teaches us to use them to deny error. We reinterpret the defenses to serve truth. And we also learn to accept a new defense, one that we learned in Section V comes from outside this world – the defense of Atonement, which is based on the principle of love.
When Jesus says that “defenses are now being used much better” this is what he means. Defending truth becomes a way to protect our peace of mind. We can use the defenses “generated by humanity” (listed above) or we can use the one that comes from outside this world. I’m sure that our practice and study are leading us closer and closer to grasping Atonement as a whole, but that takes time.
As we seek to comprehend and see this concept unfold, we can make use of all the other ways our mind works to use defenses. We can train our minds to take these skills and use them on behalf of forgiveness, peace, and love. Like Helen, we learn to “hold fast” in the face of our misperceptions and with vigilance turn our mind in the direction of truth, using this new understanding the Course is blessing us with.
Suggested Practice
Today I use my right mind to hold fast to truth. I accept Atonement and the peace that comes from God.