Overview

Excerpts

Commentary Excerp

Chapter 2, Section VI
"Fear and Conflict"

This is an extremely powerful section. It is a stirring call to do the one needful thing: to take control of our minds.

1. ¹Being afraid seems to be involuntary; something beyond your own control. ²Yet I have said already that only constructive acts should be involuntary. ³My control can take over everything that does not matter, while my guidance can direct everything that does, if you so choose. ⁴Fear cannot be controlled by me, but it can be self-controlled. ⁵Fear prevents me from giving you my control. [Ur: Fear is always associated with what does not matter. It prevents Me from controlling it.] ⁶The presence of fear shows that you have raised body thoughts to the level of the mind. [Ur: The correction is therefore a matter of your will, because its presence shows that you have raised the unimportant to a higher level than it warrants. You have thus brought it under your will, where it does not belong.] ⁷This removes them [Ur: it] from my control, and makes you feel personally responsible for them [Ur: it]. ⁸This is an obvious confusion of levels.

This paragraph can seem completely impenetrable. But there is a simple key that unlocks it: What matters is our thinking, what "does not matter" is our behavior. Jesus is saying, therefore, that he wants to guide our thinking, and that he wants to control our behavior, control being obviously a much stronger word than guide. In matters of thought, then, he will give us direction that we have to then follow. But in matters of behavior, he wants to move our limbs for us, without our involvement.

Fear, of course, falls under the first category; it is an interior matter, a matter of thought. Therefore, it is up to us to control it; he cannot do so. Fear, in turn, is generally about the second category, the realm of behavior: What is going to happen? How can I deal with it? Can I deal with it? As our mind gets caught up in worrying about these things, we remove our mind from his guidance and our behavior from his control. We place ourselves outside of his help.

Remarkably, what this paragraph says is that behavior is too unimportant for us to get caught up in. We should not let it occupy our mind, for doing so amounts to raising behavior "to a higher level [of importance] than it warrants." If we will simply take control of our mind and place it under Jesus' guidance, we won't have to worry about the behavioral realm anymore. All of our actions will become involuntary. Our outer life will become one long stream of miracles flowing forth from us spontaneously, effortlessly, just as we see in the lives of great spiritual masters.

2. ¹I do not foster level confusion, but you must choose to correct it. ²You would not excuse insane behavior on your part by saying you could not help it. ³Why should you condone insane thinking? ⁴There is a confusion [Ur: fallacy] here that you would do well to look at clearly. ⁵You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what you think. ⁶The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. ⁷What you do comes from what you think. ⁸You cannot separate yourself from the truth [Ur: separate truth] by ^"giving^" autonomy to behavior. ⁹This [behavior] is controlled by me automatically as soon as you place what you think under my guidance. ¹⁰Whenever you are afraid, it is a sure sign that you have allowed your mind to miscreate and[Ur: i.e.,] have not allowed me to guide it.

Let me first give a clarification, and then we're going to reread the paragraph. The remark about level confusion ties a lot of threads together. The levels here are the mind—which matters and which we are responsible for—and the body—which doesn't matter and which we shouldn't be responsible for. We have confused these two. We think the mind is unimportant and out of our control. We think the body's behavior is what matters and what we should attend to. Finally, we think we can separate the body's behavior from the mind's thinking, when in fact behavior simply expresses thoughts in the mind. Jesus could do behaviors that simply aren't open to us, because he thought in a whole different way.

Reading tip: Now let's reread the paragraph very slowly. In each sentence, find somewhere logical to insert your name. For example, "I do not foster level confusion, but you, Robert, must choose to correct it." Do that in every sentence (only using your name, of course).

What was your reaction? Mine was something like this: Oh my God, while I've been juggling ten balls at once, I've been letting slide the only important thing: my mind.

3. ¹It is pointless to believe that controlling the outcome of misthought can result in healing. ²When you are fearful, you have chosen wrongly. ³That is why you feel [Ur: feel you are] responsible for it. ⁴You must change your mind, not your behavior, and this is a matter of willingness [Ur: will]. ⁵You do not need guidance except at the mind level. ⁶Correction belongs only at the level where change is possible. ⁷Change does not mean anything at the symptom level, where it cannot work.

We think that if we can be better behaved, that's good enough. Who cares what's going on in our minds unless it leaks out? Thus, if we are trying to heal someone, it's all right if we look down on that person. Our task is not to give this thought up, but to cover it up, to make sure that on the outside we are all sweetness and smiles. If we put on the right front, we can even heal this person. We really believe that "controlling the outcome of misthought can result in healing" (3:1). But we have it all wrong. We need to change the cause, change our mind, and we can do this.

4. ¹The correction of fear is your responsibility. ²When you ask for release from fear [from Jesus], you are implying that it is not. ³You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about. ⁴These conditions always entail a willingness to be separate [Ur: a separated Mind-willingness]. ⁵At that level you can help it. ⁶You are much too tolerant of mind wandering, and are passively condoning your mind^'s miscreations [Ur: thus passively condoning its miscreation]. ⁷The particular result does not matter, but the fundamental error does. ⁸The [Ur: fundamental] correction is always the same. ⁹Before you choose to do anything, ask me if your choice is in accord with mine. ¹⁰If you are sure that it is, there will be no fear.

As the opening line of the section said, fear really does feel involuntary. It feels like we can't help it. And so we plead to Jesus to release us from it. Yet what is really going on is we are letting our mind careen all over the place, like a car whose driver is asleep at the wheel. Our out-of-control mind causes fear as it crashes into one object after another. The answer is simple: wake up and grab the wheel. But are we willing to do that?

Application: Think about a decision you have made and will be carrying out soon, if you have one. Then ask Jesus if your choice is in accord with his. Do you feel any fear when you ask this? If so, then your mind isn't sure that your choice is in accord with his.

5. ¹Fear is always a sign of strain, arising whenever what you want [Ur: whenever the will to do] conflicts with what you do. ²This situation arises in two [Ur: major] ways: First, you can choose to do conflicting things, either simultaneously or successively. ³This produces conflicted behavior, which is intolerable to you because the part of the mind that wants to do something else is outraged [Ur: which would be tolerable to the self (though not necessarily to others) except for the fact that the part of the will that wants something else is outraged]. ⁴Second, you can behave as you think you should, but without entirely wanting to do so. ⁵This produces consistent behavior, but entails great strain [Ur: within the self]. ⁶In both cases, the mind[Ur: the will] and the behavior are out of accord, resulting in a situation in which you are doing what you do not wholly want to do. ⁷This arouses a sense of coercion that usually produces rage, [Ur: The anger then invades the mind,] and projection is likely to follow. [Ur: Depression or anxiety are virtually certain.] ⁸Whenever there is fear, it is because you have not made up your mind. ⁹Your mind is therefore split, and your behavior inevitably becomes erratic. ¹⁰Correcting at the behavioral level can shift the error from the first to the second type, but will not obliterate the fear.

6. ¹It is possible to reach a state in which you bring your mind [Ur: will] under my guidance without [Ur: much] conscious effort, but this implies a willingness [Ur: a kind of habit pattern] that you have not developed [Ur: dependably] as yet. [Ur: Tell Bill that although he keeps telling you that God will never ask you to do more than you can, he does not understand it himself.] ²The Holy Spirit cannot [Ur: God cannot] ask more than you [Ur: will.] are willing to do. ³The strength to do comes from your undivided decision [Ur: from your own undivided will to do]. ⁴There is no strain in doing God^'s Will as soon as you recognize that it is also your own. ⁵The lesson here is quite simple, but particularly apt to be overlooked. ⁶I will therefore repeat it, urging you to listen. ⁷Only your mind can produce fear. ⁸It does so whenever it is conflicted in what it wants, [Ur: thus] producing inevitable strain because wanting [Ur: willing] and doing are discordant. ⁹This can be corrected only by accepting a unified goal. [Ur: This cannot be corrected by better doing. But it can be corrected by higher willing.]

These paragraphs can be very hard to understand. I'll try to condense what I think they mean (for a longer version, see http://www.circleofa.org/articles/FearAndConflict.php). Fear arises out of strain, the strain of what you want to do conflicting with what you actually do. There are two types of this conflict:

1. You want conflicting things—you want what we might call the "nobler" and the "baser"—and this results in conflicting behavior as you swing back and forth from one to the other. Whenever you do one thing, the part of your mind that wants to do the other thing is outraged. It is not getting what it wants.

2. You behave consistently; you express only the nobler side of your mind. But the baser side is still there, constantly frustrated. The result is not terribly different than in the first case. The part of your mind that is not being expressed is on a slow boil.

When you are experiencing the first type of the conflict, it looks as if your error is on the behavioral level: You are doing "bad" things alongside the "good." So you try to correct it by making your behavior reflect only the better side of you. All this does, however, is move the problem from the first kind to the second kind.

A great example is the scandal around Jimmy Swaggart that was in the news some years ago. He wants to preach God's Word and he wants to hire prostitutes. One day he is in the pulpit, the next day he is in the motel room. He is doing conflicting things. He must be terribly afraid of getting caught and/or being punished by God. So he repents and cleans up his behavior. He forces himself to express only the "good" side of his mind. He stays away from prostitutes. This, however, simply moves his conflict from the first type to the second type. Now his baser side is totally frustrated. Indeed it is outraged. And surely it is also afraid—of never getting what it wants. This naturally puts pressure on him to move his conflict back to the first type, which, I understand, is exactly what he eventually did.

Don't we all face Swaggart's dilemma: Do we express both sides of ourselves (one side on Sunday morning and the other side on Saturday night) or do we wear our Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes all week long? Tragically, no matter which one we choose—type 1 or type 2—there will be an internal pressure to bounce back over to the other one.

And that's the point—there is no behavioral solution. As long as your mind is split, you are doomed to some version of Swaggart's drama. We strain and strain to do God's Will, but it is only a strain because we don't wholly want to do His Will; some part of us is pulling in another direction. The solution has to be an internal one. The solution is to unite our will with His, to realize that our will is His. At that point, doing His Will, expressing the highest in us, is no strain at all. There is nothing else in us to express.

7. ¹The first corrective step in undoing the error is to know first that the conflict is an expression of fear [Ur: After taking the first corrective step, i.e., "Knowing it is fear," you might benefit temporarily by adding another next step before going on with the corrective process.]. ²Say to yourself that you must somehow [Ur: or somewhere] have chosen not to love, or the fear could not have arisen. [Ur: Then follow previous instructions.] ³Then the whole process of correction becomes nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as the remedy. ⁴These steps may be summarized in this way:

⁵Know first that this is fear.
⁶Fear arises from lack of love.
⁷The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.
⁸Perfect love is the Atonement.

[Ur: The final procedural step (3) is inherent in the last statement (4).]

It may not be entirely obvious, but Jesus is suggesting an actual procedure here. We have seen elements of this procedure before. The last section said this: "We have established that for all corrective processes, the first step is know that this is fear." When this paragraph says, "Then follow previous instructions," those instructions are the lines from "The Illusion of Needs" (1.VI.5) which begin with "Perfect love casts out fear." So let's really try to do what he had in mind.

Application: Think of a situation in your life in which you are troubled.

Step 1. Know that this is fear. Whatever you think you are feeling, if it is not supremely happy, it is fear. Say, "I know that I am in fear."

Step 2. Say to yourself, "I must have chosen somehow or somewhere not to love, or the fear could not have arisen."

Step 3: Finally, say, "The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.

Perfect love is the Atonement.
I accept the reality of perfect love.
I accept the Atonement for myself."

8. ¹I have emphasized that the miracle, or the expression of Atonement, is always a sign of [Ur: real] respect from the worthy to the worthy. ²The recognition of this worth is re-established by the Atonement. ³It is obvious, then, that when you are afraid, you have placed yourself in a position where you need Atonement. ⁴You have done something loveless, having chosen without love. ⁵This is precisely the situation for which the Atonement was offered. ⁶The need for the remedy inspired its establishment. ⁷As long as you recognize only the need for the remedy, you will remain fearful. ⁸However, as soon as you accept the remedy [Ur: as you remedy it], you have abolished the fear. ⁹This is how true healing occurs.

This paragraph really just emphasizes the need to do the procedure in the previous paragraph. If you are afraid, it is because you have chosen to look upon a brother without love and then act lovelessly toward him. Now what you need is the Atonement, for its whole purpose is to fill your mind with love, to let you see the shining worth in this brother. Now you don't need to put on your best kind face, for you are overflowing with kindness. Now you can do a miracle, whereas before you could only do damage. Yet it is not enough to simply accept that you need this remedy. You have to actually apply the remedy, actually do the procedure.

9. ¹Everyone experiences fear [Ur: and nobody enjoys it]. ²Yet it would take very little right-thinking to realize why fear occurs. ³Few appreciate the real power of the mind, and no one remains fully aware of it all the time. [Ur: This is inevitable in this world, because the human being has many things he must do, and cannot engage in constant thought-watching.] ⁴However, if you hope to spare yourself from fear there are some things you must realize, and realize fully [Ur: at least some of the time]. ⁵The mind is very powerful, and never loses its creative force. ⁶It never sleeps. ⁷Every instant it is creating [Ur: and always as you will. Many of your ordinary expressions reflect this. For example, when you say "don't give it a thought", you are implying that if you do not think about something, it will have no effect on you. This is true enough. On the other hand, many other expressions are clear expressions of the prevailing lack of awareness of thought-power. For example, you say, "just an idle thought", and mean that the thought has no effect. You also speak of some actions as "thoughtless", implying that if the person had thought, he would not have behaved as he did. You also use phrases like "thought provoking", which is bland enough, but the term "a provoking thought" means something quite different. While expressions like "think big" give some recognition to the power of thought, they still come nowhere near the truth. You do not expect to grow when you say it, because you don't really believe it.] ⁸It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains. ⁹It appears at first glance that to believe such power about yourself is arrogant, but that is not the real reason you do not believe it. ¹⁰You prefer to believe that your thoughts cannot exert real influence because you are actually [Ur: literally] afraid of them. [Ur: Therapists try to help people who are afraid of their own death wishes by depreciating the power of the wish. They even attempt to "free" the patient by persuading him that he can think whatever he wants, without any real effect at all. There is a real dilemma here, which only the truly right-minded can escape. Death wishes do not kill in the physical sense, but they do kill spiritually. All destructive thinking is dangerous. Given a death wish, a man has no choice except to act upon his thought, or behave contrary to it. He can thus choose only between homicide {did he mean suicide?} and fear….The other possibility is that he depreciates the power of his thought. This is the usual psychoanalytic approach.] ¹¹This may allay awareness of the guilt, but at the cost of perceiving the mind as impotent. ¹²If you believe that what you think is ineffectual you may cease to be [Ur: overly] afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it. [Ur: The world is full of endless examples of how man has depreciated himself because he is afraid of his own thoughts. In some forms of insanity, thoughts are glorified, but this is only because the underlying depreciation {of thought} was too effective for tolerance {it became intolerable and had to be compensated for by a glorification of thought}.] ¹³There are no idle thoughts. ¹⁴All thinking produces form at some level. [Ur: The reason why people are afraid of ESP, and so often react against it, is because they know that thought can hurt them. Their own thoughts have made them vulnerable {to the "psychic" thoughts of others}.]

I find this material absolutely amazing. I wish they had included all of it in the blue book. It opens by implying that the reason we experience fear is that we are misusing the staggering power of the mind. Jesus says that no one here is fully aware of the real power of the mind all the time! He doesn't expect us to be, but he does expect us to fully grasp certain things about the mind, at least some of the time.

The mind is far more powerful than we can conceive. This power is at work all the time, yet in a careless, erratic, unconscious way. Imagine a soldier in a nuclear missile command center, wildly trying to slap a fly that is landing on the control panel, totally unaware that he is pushing launch buttons in the process. I find the references to various cultural sayings fascinating. Jesus is implying that no actions are "thoughtless"—all of them are the product of thought and do exactly what they were intended to do. He is also saying that if we really believed the saying "think big" we would actually grow! Yet even this, he says, comes nowhere near to capturing the real truth. The real truth is that thoughts can move mountains. Just in case we think he is engaging in hyperbole, he adds the word "literally."

Surely he is exaggerating, we think. He can't mean this. I don't have that kind of power. I can't pick up Mount Everest with my mind. Give me a break! His response: You do have that kind of power, and you know it. You dismiss it now because you know it, because this knowing scares the hell out of you. You are afraid of what you might do with that power. Maybe you will pick up Everest and drop it on a major city. Maybe you will use your mind to control the minds of others or invade their privacy. And with this kind of power, what if you have a death wish? What happens then?

Rather than face this fear squarely, we do the convenient thing: We deny we have any such power. If we don't have it, then we can't be afraid of what we'll do with it. And we can't feel guilty for what we have done with it. Therapists come along and reinforce this denial. They tell us, don't worry about your crazy, destructive thoughts. As long as you don't act them out, you can think what you want. Scientists reinforce our denial, too. Don't take ESP seriously, they tell us, the mind has no such power. The mind really just the brain, just a lump of matter in your head.

These solutions are attractive, but they have one problem: We still have the power, and it is still operating without our control, still doing harm, and still making us afraid (I'm scaring myself just by writing this—in fact, I just wrote "writhing" instead of "writing"). Moreover, the only way out is to harness the power and use it constructively. And we can't use it constructively if we don't admit to having it.

Application: Read these lines slowly and meaningfully. Use them as a way of acknowledging the power in you:

If I hope to spare myself from fear,
there are some things I must realize,
and realize fully:

My mind is very powerful,
and never loses its creative force.
My mind never sleeps.
Every instant it is creating.
My thought and belief can combine into a power surge
that can literally move mountains.
Believing such a thing may sound arrogant,
but that is not the real reason I don't believe it.
I prefer to believe my thoughts cannot exert real influence
because I am actually afraid of them.
This may push my guilt out of awareness,
but at the cost of perceiving my mind as impotent.
If I believe that my thinking has no effect
I may cease to be afraid of it,
but I am hardly likely to respect it.
I have no idle thoughts.
All of my thinking produces form at some level.

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Reviews

Reviewer: Linda Falkenhain

06/10/2009 12:00am

The Reading program has been a wonderful experience. I know I have a lifetime of study ahead of me and this was a great way to start. It was amazing how I would be strugging with some situation and the reading for that day would contain the answer! Thank you so much for an outstanding experience.

—Linda Falkenhain

Reviewer: Julia Simpson

06/10/2009 12:00am

This course is a priceless gift to anyone who wants to fully understand the awesome teachings of A Course in Miracles. Robert and Greg are experts at bringing the ideas to life and making the sometimes challenging Text not just understandable, but rich with meaning and poignancy. They are like lantern bearers lighting up the path and making it so much easier to follow. With their guidance I feel that I have been able to appreciate and integrate the Course at a whole new level in my life. This, in turn, is having very noticeable results for the better in my personal and working life. I love the way they work together, and how they bring insight, humor, and wisdom to their classes and commentaries. If you've been "flirting" with A Course In Miracles and are now ready for a "meaningful relationship" I can think of no better course to take!
—Julia Simpson

Reviewer: Donna Farrell Hendrzak

06/10/2009 12:00am

To the Course students who have had trouble deciphering the text or staying committed to the Course, this is the class for you. Robert and Greg do an amazing job of explaining every paragraph and after a while everything just clicks. I have an understanding of the Course now that I know would have taken me years to accomplish on my own. Listening to them talk each week was inspiring and uplifting and their great sense of humor only added to the enjoyment. It is challenging to put into words exactly how grateful I am for this life-changing class. Thank you Robert and Greg!
—Donna Farrell Hendrzak

Reviewer: Sharon Edwards

06/10/2009 12:00am

I am in love with the Course again and I am so grateful to Robert and Greg. I have been reading A Course in Miracles off and on for many years. This year I studied it. Like many others, I'm irrevocably drawn to this book, but on my own I've stumbled over parts I didn't understand and drifted off when my busy life took priority over consistency. In retrospect I can see that I was just skimming the surface. This year, prodded by the Holy Spirit, I took the Text class offered by Robert Perry and Greg Mackie and found myself immersed like never before. Daily readings with insightful explanations and applications by two of the best Course scholars available, and weekly classes of the material—an hour chock full of fascinating information and personal questions answered with kindness, humor, and directness—have given me a new appreciation for this same Course I've loved for years. With Robert and Greg as tour guides it's been an amazing journey into the genius and magnitude of this material. Along the way errors have been shed, personal ego-traps were identified, and inspiration lightened my heart. If you feel guided, don't miss this opportunity.
—Sharon Edwards

Reviewer: >Katherine LaTorraca

06/10/2009 12:00am

Robert Perry and Greg Mackie's Text Reading Program translates the beautiful poetry of each paragraph into everyday common language, making the valuable meaning of each sentence easily understood. I would read a passage and not understand it at all and then after reading their commentary it would be crystal clear and I couldn't imagine how I didn't understand it previously! I am able to apply the teachings to daily life.
—Katherine LaTorraca

Reviewer: David Colwell

06/10/2009 12:00am

I would recommend that anyone who feels drawn to the Text reading program offered by the Circle of Atonement go ahead and take the plunge without hesitation. Previously, I had never succeeded in completely reading the Text. This program kept me moving forward, made me accountable, and helped me to grow in so many ways. Participating in the Text reading program in 2006 was definitely the best thing that I did for myself this year.
—David Colwell

Reviewer: George Porter

06/10/2009 12:00am

The Text Reading Program has been an absolutely invaluable tool in my attempts to understand and implement in my daily life the teachings of A Course in Miracles. There is nothing else in my years of studying the Course that has helped me so much!
—George Porter

Reviewer: Amy Ellison

06/10/2009 12:00am

It's like a global spiritual community where like minded people come together to explore the Text of ACIM. The Wednesday teleclass is like a midweek infusion of Truth that feels like what I would like church to feel like: a grounding yet exalting remembrance of who we really are.
Robert and Greg's sustained and contagious enthusiasm, along with their intelligence, insight, and wit create a fun climate of Spiritual scholarship that helps to make the text more intelligible and alive. They're extraordinarily gifted and I feel grateful to have been able to experience their gifts.
—Amy Ellison

Reviewer: Jo Chandler

06/10/2009 12:00am

I have been fortunate to be a part of the Circle of Atonement's yearlong Text program. Receiving daily assigned readings, complete with Urtext discrepancies and commentary by Robert Perry and Greg Mackie, helped me better understand the Course in so many ways. The daily e-mails gave me a structure that was lacking when I tried to read through the Course on my own. And Robert and Greg's insights helped me understand and assimilate the Course's otherwise complex and difficult passages. Finally, the weekly Text discussions between Greg and Robert brought the meaning of Jesus' messages even closer to home. And if I couldn't join the discussion group live, I could always listen to the recording on my own time.

I will do this again next year, and the next, and the next. This program is amazing.
—Jo Chandler

Reviewer: Kathy Chomitz

06/10/2009 12:00am

I would like to say that this year has been too amazing to actually put into words. I have felt enveloped in the love of you two for the last eleven months and worry about how I will feel at the end of December when this all comes to an end. Being a relative newcomer to the Course, I started studying about three years ago, I worried about how I would manage with so many who have studied it for much longer. You always made us feel that no question was too imposing although I have to admit I was too shy to ask any! Even when so many of us fell behind you treated us as kind older brothers would and encouraged us in a way that was totally gentle and loving. The sheer magnitude of your commitment astounds me.
—Kathy Chomitz

Reviewer: Barbara Olson

06/10/2009 12:00am

Robert and Greg did a beautiful and creative piece of work in making A Course in Miracles accessible. Even though I've attended many study groups, I loved having the course delivered daily to my doorstep—well, okay, e-mail box. The e-mail approach has kept me better focused. I can honestly say I'll finally complete the reading of the entire text and I've been at this for twenty years!

It was fascinating to see the Urtext inserted alongside the published/official version of the Course and to have Robert and Greg's comments. Both guys give superb commentary on all parts of the text, which helps move the insights deeper. Their fresh approach and their willingness to answer individual follow up questions was greatly appreciated and helpful. Thank you so much.
—Barbara Olson

Reviewer: Jan Worley

06/10/2009 12:00am

The yearlong study of the Text (with its readings and teleconference) is an incredible way to gain a better understanding of ACIM theory. Individual sentences, paragraphs, and sections come alive with their essential meaning and in context to the whole. The inclusion of Urtext and commentary was enlightening and brought new insight to many areas that are difficult to understand on their own. Robert and Greg have a tremendous comprehension of the Course and provide down-to-earth explanations. I know of no better way to learn the message of the Text than this course offered by Robert and Greg.
—Jan Worley

Reviewer: Loretta M. Siani

06/10/2009 12:00am

Robert and Greg have a way of putting the language of the Text into simple, concrete terms that makes it both easier to understand and easier to apply to everyday life. To me their personal stories and insights "hit home" and illuminate Text principles like never before. I am most grateful for their ministry to me through this work.
—Loretta M. Siani, Ph.D.

Reviewer: Tracy Dand

06/10/2009 12:00am

This was a wonderful experience going through the Text with the commentary. It motivated me to have the structure, and many times the commentary helped me to gain a deeper or clearer understanding of the Text. I found it very helpful to have the Urtext differences included and commented on. I especially appreciated the application sections. These encouraged me to slow down and have an experience of letting the teachings of the Course really sink in. I also enjoyed knowing that I was part of a community of Course students taking this journey together for the year.

Thank you to both of you for all of your labor of love. What a gift to the Course community! I will recommend it to others.
—Tracy Dand

Reviewer: Lee Vierling

06/10/2009 12:00am

The profound teachings of the Course are so much easier to comprehend through each commentary's analogies and examples of everyday life situations. The applications of the concepts asking us not only to think of a person or situation but to use a specific name in the exercise make it increasingly difficult to justify our ego's thought system. The teachings are like standing on a chair seeing over the hedges of a garden maze, seeing the way out. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to experience the Course on such a practical basis.

I have never found material more profound and life changing. Up to now I thought my ego served me well. It now seems like a abusive parent and me the child that didn't know better. I just trusted it and stuck by it even though it kept dishing out conflict. Thanks Robert and Greg
—Lee Vierling

Reviewer: Nancy Nevitt

06/10/2009 12:00am

The class has helped me connect with the Text as never before. The clear and down-to-earth commentary on the daily reading as well as the weekly phone summary have been invaluable. Besides the clarity, the common sense and humor just lighten up the journey that's already been made. So glad to connect with all "the mighty companions"—hearing others on the phone conference calls makes tangible the Circle.
—Nancy Nevitt

Reviewer: Wendy Finnerty

06/10/2009 12:00am

A Course in Miracles found me in 1990. Since then I have read and studied the Text through at least once a year. I thought I knew it pretty well. However this year has been a real eye-opener. Studying the Course with your day-by-day guidance has given me so many new insights into that wonderful book. With better understanding I see myself using more of the Course teachings in my daily life. Best of all-many of those little question marks I made in the margins have been erased. I shall be forever grateful for this year of Text study.
—Wendy Finnerty

Reviewer: Chris Heaton

06/10/2009 12:00am

For a deeper and more meaningful experience with the Text, I highly recommend the Long Distance Learning Program offered by the Circle of Atonement. Sharing with so many like-minded students from around the globe triggers new questions and brings the richness of many points of view. The most important learning experience for me was seeing the Urtext version juxtaposed with the published version. While they are not substantially different in meaning, the nuances in the Urtext presented by the wide use of italics for emphasis on key words helps make the original intent of nearly all the passages so much clearer for me. Any Course student would benefit by this yearlong study.
—Chris Heaton

Reviewer: Duke Castle

06/10/2009 12:00am

The Text Reading Program has been a godsend to me. I wouldn't have gotten through the Course Text within a year without it, much less understood what I was reading.
—Duke Castle

Reviewer: Ulla Wallin

06/10/2009 12:00am

After twenty years with the Course, this year with the Text study group has made me understand the Text in a way I have never understood it before. I understand on a much different level (it seems)—I'm sooooo grateful! The Text study group has been so important. I have a much deeper "contact" with the Holy Spirit today—I understand in a different way my deep need of the Holy Spirit. I could give you a thousand reasons for joining up—it has been an amazing revelation. The other day I was caught by a feeling of anguish—what am I going to do when this year has come to an end? This has been my "morning paper," reminding me, encouraging me, supporting me, loving me. I'm so grateful.
—Ulla Wallin

Reviewer: Sylvia and Cap Lyons

06/10/2009 12:00am

If it were not for your enlightening Text class, we would still be floundering in an intellectual soup. The soup was mighty tasty, but was difficult to get our teeth into without your brilliant observations, comparisons, and analogies. We especially appreciate that the explanations are downloadable, printable, and the fifty-two conference calls are recordable. All can be used over and over again.

We appreciated your unbiased and open-minded approach to our questions and your quick response to those questions. We know this is a vast body of work that you have given us and we are grateful from the bottom of our hearts.
—Sylvia and Cap Lyons

Reviewer: Don De Lene

06/10/2009 12:00am

Brenda and I have gained so much from your Text reading notes. Our understanding and appreciation of the Course has plumbed new depths.

Although the Course has been in my life since 1992, for most of the intervening years I would classify myself as virtually a "Course Text dyslexic." My resistance to understanding the words of the Text has been extraordinary. The personal agony and frustration I've put myself through beggars description. And yet, by and large, I haven't experienced the same problems with the Workbook or Manual.

Then, in answer to my prayers, you guys commenced the Text reading program. This has helped me tremendously. Quite often I still try to make sense of a seemingly incomprehensible paragraph, read your interpretation of its substance, reread the paragraph, and invariably have a light-bulb moment.

Brenda and I have rarely missed a beat following the program—it has been a revelation for both of us.
—Don De Lene

Reviewer: Mirkalice Gore

06/10/2009 12:00am

Having studied the Course faithfully for twenty-eight years, I never imagined the insights and miracles I would receive from your commentaries on the Text!
—Mirkalice Gore

Reviewer: David Fleming

06/10/2009 12:00am

The daily e-mails are always looked forward to and your comments on each paragraph have made the Course a lot easier to understand. I can truly say that this course has made an incredible difference to my life. I had purchased ACIM some several years previously, but found it very difficult to get through. Getting your e-mails daily gave me the chance to take the Course in acceptable bite size chunks and dwell on each email for at least twenty-four hours before reading the next.

I wholeheartedly recommend anyone investing what is a small amount in order to see the world from the perspective of what is real, and have the opportunity to change their lives together with those who are close to them.
—David Fleming

Reviewer: Rev. Jerry Cusimano

06/10/2009 12:00am

The Text Reading program from the Circle of Atonement is like everything else which comes from the Circle: nothing less than totally inspiring. The fact that Robert and Greg share of themselves so intimately and how they relate their own thinking and feelings to the Course makes the readings so alive! I use them in my class at church each week, where all the participants agree the readings give greater and more clear perspective of the Course.
—Rev. Jerry Cusimano

Reviewer: Connie Porter

06/10/2009 12:00am

I would like to send encouragement to anyone thinking about taking this course. When I heard about it last January, I had just joined a small discussion group in Charlottesville, Virginia, after trying to read the ACIM texts on my own. Your course has been a very powerful tool to keep me on track, reading and absorbing just a few pages each day. This process has been an invaluable source of inner peace during this past year. Thanks for all you do to spread the wonderful messages of hope in these texts.
—Connie Porter

Reviewer: Siham Ghaibi

06/10/2009 12:00am

I do want to thank both Greg and you for the Text Reading Program. It has been a wonderful experience. It has allowed me to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. My journey on my path could not have taken place without the Circle's work!
—Siham Ghaibi

Reviewer: Dietrun Buchmann

06/10/2009 12:00am

The Text class offers insights I never had alone and could not have, because of the deep understanding you have and share.
—Dietrun Buchmann

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