June 27, 2017
We have been talking about the necessity of faith in this chapter. What is faith? I’m sure we all have different ideas about what faith actually is. These ideas come from our past. We have formed this idea of faith, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not so pleasant. I believe the Course is asking us to have faith that we really are whole and complete deep beneath the perception we have of ourselves. It asks us to have faith that Spirit will guide us in the situations in which we find ourselves in this world. The Course asks us to have even just a little faith that our problems and the solutions to our problems are simply one problem requiring one solution even as it presents in a myriad of forms until we understand what Spirit is teaching us.
There is no problem in any situation that faith will not solve. There is no shift in any aspect of the problem but will make solution impossible. For if you shift part of the problem elsewhere the meaning of the problem must be lost, and the solution to the problem is inherent in its meaning. Is it not possible that all your problems have been solved, but you have removed yourself from the solution? Yet faith must be where something has been done, and where you see it done. T-17.VII.2:1-5
We get so involved in the minutia of our situations that we lose sight of the big picture and what is important. The details of the situation distract us from the basic problem, that we have aligned ourselves with our egoic thought system which perpetrates separation rather than Oneness. There is no meaning in separation while there is all meaning and great value in joining and Oneness. We lose sight of the fact that we are really One with each other and therefore can’t be separate. Our problems arise from our attempts to see ourselves as separate from each other.
A situation is simply a relationship, being the joining of thoughts. If problems are perceived, it is because the thoughts are judged to be in conflict. But if the goal is truth, this is impossible. We will make this error, but do not be concerned with that. The error does not matter. What matters is that faithlessness brought to faith will never interfere with truth. But faithlessness used against truth will always destroy faith. If we lack faith, we must ask that faith be restored where it was lost, and seek not to have faith made up to us elsewhere, as if we had been unjustly deprived of it. Faith is faith in truth – that truth is and that Spirit reveals truth to us in this world.
Every situation in which you find yourself is but a means to meet the purpose set for your relationship. See it as something else and you are faithless. Use not your faithlessness. Let it enter and look upon it calmly, but do not use it. Faithlessness is the servant of illusion, and wholly faithful to its master. Use it, and it will carry you straight to illusions. Be tempted not by what it offers you. It interferes, not with the goal, but with the value of the goal to you. Accept not the illusion of peace it offers, but look upon its offering and recognize it is illusion. T-17.VII.5:1-9
Allow every situation, no matter its form, to seek truth in its purpose. Allow each situation – relationship – to be a reflection of our true nature. Allow the holy light and love of our divine nature to shine forth as we allow each relationship to be healed by Spirit. Have faith that Spirit’s promise will rise from within us and answer the call for faith. We will find ourselves rejoicing in the joy that fills our being as we reconnect with the Oneness our relationships are meant to reflect. Lighten up and let the light and love we all are in Oneness shine brightly from within. This is what we all really seek.
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