Miracle Principle 46

February 3, 2021

Miracle Principle 46: A miracle is never lost. It touches many people you may not even know, and sometimes produces undreamed-of changes in forces of which you are not even aware.

This is a pretty amazing claim, one we can hardly fathom and Jesus says “this is not your concern. The miracle will always bless you.” (2:1-2) I think this may fall into the category of the “need to know.” Even though we do not have to worry about knowing the mechanics of how our miracle mindedness ends up in connecting to the end point, a record is kept and therefore it and its manifestation is not lost.

Jesus again uses our sexual desires to illustrate a major teaching about how our natural miracle impulses are distorted so that we remain physically oriented rather than spiritually oriented. He tells us that our “inappropriate sex drives (or misdirected miracle impulses) result in guilt if expressed and depression if denied.” (3:2) He says that we are mistaken in the idea that we will gain pleasure from this physical act because “all real pleasure comes from doing God’s will.” (3:3)

We may fall into quite strong resistance about this because we do equate an intimate physical relationship with love and with pleasure. Jesus is not saying we should not use our bodies for pleasure or for expressing love. He wants us to be aware of the underlying distortions that are at play.

If the instrument or tool of sex is intended for creation in the physical order then it is for the purpose of providing a vehicle for souls to come into this world to learn how to perform miracles and “improve their records.” (4:1) Therefore, the tool of sex is intended to be an aid in our becoming more aware of our identity by learning the role of creator/parent. As we learn to help the souls we provide with entry into the world learn to love by gaining the state of grace, we learn about being creators.

The only error in how we operate now is thinking we can connect physically. Becoming aware of this thinking will produce guilt and our guilt is projected outward, maybe toward Jesus and the Course or toward our partners or any number of places. But becoming aware of the thinking that makes the error possible means it can be corrected.

 Jesus uses a correction for part of the Lord’s Prayer; “’Lead us not into temptation’ means ‘Do not let us deceive ourselves into believing that we can relate in peace to God or our brothers with anything external.’” (6:3) He says that we are deluded to think that pleasure without relating can exist. We do think that engaging in sex is relating. How much closer can we get to each other? But Jesus says that when we think we can relate in this physical way we are relating to a “concept of ourselves or another as a [physical] sex object.” (6:5) This is where we see the error more clearly. We are confusing levels again. We are relating as objects to objects and therefore are not “doing God’s will” which is to accept our state of grace. When we are tempted to relate in this way, we are encouraged to ask Jesus to enter into the situation to change it “from one of inappropriate sexual attraction to one of impersonal miracle working.” (7:4)

This is not an instruction to never have sexual relations again. For now because we do not have clear “real vision” (8:2) we will learn to express God’s love to others using our bodies to “enlarge the perception of others.” (8:3) By asking Jesus to step into the situation where we believe we may be experiencing a distorted miracle impulse we will be open to guidance about how to use our bodies to express those impulses correctly. This may be through sex or it may be in another physical expression. This becomes the process of using our bodies to learn they are unnecessary.

As we become more and more aware of our impulses, we want to remember to ask for help. Jesus spends some time making sure we understand this clearly. He starts by using the prayer that Helen prayed when she had an impulse to help Bill.

 “If you will tell me what to do, I will to do it.”

He then goes on to explain this statement in itself is not complete because we need to also “not do those that you would not have me do.” (10:2)

The modification of this statement means we are in a state of miracle mindedness with our perception “right-side up.” (11:1) We are not confused about our identity. We need to protect this state to maintain our readiness to express our miracle mindedness. Jesus needs us to “always be ready, willing, and able.” (11:1) Therefore, protecting this state of mind is essential. The Course is teaching us to use its teachings to protect our miracle mindedness. We can see this goal in Jesus injunction to be

“Ready to listen,

Willing to learn, and

Able to do.” (11:4)

It is by protecting our readiness and increasing our willingness to learn that our ability to do becomes involuntary.

Jesus wants us to be even more specific in our miracle prayer because as a channel for miracles we “must learn to do only what [we are] supposed to do.” (12:5) He then changes the wording to “narrow down” the scope of our doing.

“If you will tell me what to do only that I will to do.” (12:7)

Jesus gives us another insight into the difference between revelation and miracles saying we should not be in awe of miracles because “they are a sign of love among equals.” (14:1) And because we are equals awe for miracles would imply inequality. The only place where we encounter inequality is in revelation where we “experience unspeakable love.” (13:1) Because we are perfect creations of God it is right to be in awe of the “Creator of perfection.” (13:6)

We should not be in awe of Jesus because he is our equal, there is nothing about him we cannot achieve because we are equal in every way except that he knows he has “nothing that does not come from God…that leaves [him] in a state of true holiness.” (16:2,4) Because he is devoted to us and to our learning what he has learned, he deserves our devotion and respect, not awe. He is between us and God because he is completely aware of the fact that he is like his Father and we do not have that awareness.

Jesus uses Jeane Dixon’s statement as an example again, explaining that because he is able to use the physical order and knows the spiritual order, he can help us experience the “glories of Heaven… on earth.” (19:4) This may include experiences of revelation, because he is alert to our “revelation readiness.” (19:2)

Miracles pave the way for us to return to our original form of communication through direct revelation with God. In the meantime the Holy Spirit mediates between God and us, keeping the communication channel open until we have established the understanding that we also understand we have nothing that does not come from God and that there is nothing else but what comes from God.

Exercise:

Pay attention to your impulses to offer love and closeness today and take some time to use these impulses to remind yourself to repeat the miracle prayer:

“If you will tell me what to do, only that I will to do.”

Allow yourself to be still and wait for guidance thinking about the fact that it is from your miraculous state of mind that the miracle which is a sign of love among equals can be given without distortion. Therefore, it is important for you to accept that you are in a state of grace.

Suggested Practice:

I have nothing that does not come from God, and I have nothing else.