Reframing the Crucifixion | A Course in Miracles Deep Dive | March 25, 2026 | Ch.2, Section III, P:2, S:1 to P:3, S:2

The crucifixion has been used for centuries as a lesson in sacrifice but what if that “lesson” is exactly what keeps us afraid of God? I take a close, line-by-line look at A Course in Miracles (Complete and Annotated Edition) and land on a simple correction: suffering is not salvation, and pain is not proof of love. The resurrection points to something far more liberating, that nothing real can be harmed and nothing needs to be paid for.

From there, we explore how an upside down frame of reference can make devotion feel like loss and surrender feel dangerous. I talk about how sincere Christians and devoted ministers can pass along an interpretation with real tenderness and still be repeating a distortion, that God permits suffering, especially for “good” people. ACIM calls out the downstream effect clearly: fear of God. When the mind believes God uses punishment or sacrifice, trust becomes impossible, and the heart hesitates right at the doorway of intimacy.

I also bring this into daily life: how to respond when something feels false without attacking anyone. “Protect the truth” becomes a practical instruction for relationships, online arguments, and inner conflict. And we end with a powerful compass for discernment: if you have to twist your whole frame of reference to justify a belief, you don’t need to accept it.

If this brings you relief or challenges something you’ve carried for years, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find ACIM teachings that lead to peace.

Transcript

Welcome And Opening Gratitude

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Yay. Aloha. And welcome to a Course in Miracles deep dive with Hope Johnson. We are deep diving into the purple book as it's known, a Course in Miracles complete and annotated edition. Came out in 2021. Yay! So if you want to follow along like that, get that version. You don't necessarily need it. Only if you want it. Oh, hang on a second.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

I need to open my Kindle. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

So this is chapter two of part three. No, paragraph two of part three of chapter three. And it is page one one one. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

So let's tune in.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Ah, so much gratitude for everyone who joins. So many blessings are not only available to everyone around you, but to you as well. Everything that's shared with the willingness to see that we have a shared interest is returned to you immediately.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Thank you for doing that.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Thank you for giving and receiving in that way. Thank you for being here with me. Thank you. I love you. And thank you to Jesus. Thank you. Since this is a channeled uh a channeled work, a course in miracles. Thank you to Jesus. Thank you for showing us how to train our mind. Thank you. So we can see things the way you see things. So that we can see things in a way that undoes everything that seems to be lacking. And bring about what's truly worthy of us. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you to everyone who joins in this. Thank you to all beings. Thank you for your perfect creation. I love you. Yay. Let's begin. All right.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Ah.

Crucifixion Versus Resurrection Meaning

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Chapter three, section three. And here's the review, little review of paragraph one. Page one eleven.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Just to get some grounding on where we are in this section.

Upside Down Perception Of God

SPEAKER_02 4:13

So part of that paragraph really one part that stands out a lot and seems to be kind of like the foundation for this section is the crucifixion did not establish the atonement. The resurrection did. And that's sentence two of paragraph one. So right away, right off the bat, in this particular section, he's correcting the idea that salvation came through suffering. Now, this is important because each of us have had our mind minds conditioned to believe that love means pain, attack, death, suffering. Like it requires something like that. But what he's saying through this sentence, the crucifixion did not establish the atonement, the resurrection did. He's saying it wasn't the pain or the attack or the death. It was the demonstration that death had no effect. That's what the resurrection shows. That's why he's saying the crucifixion did not establish the atonement, the resurrection did. It showed that what we are can't be harmed or destroyed in any way or changed by anything that seems to happen to us in form. Hooray! Yes. Yeah, yay. And then he points out something that's been misunderstood: that many very sincere people have taken the crucifixion to mean that their suffering has value. And you know, this is kind of like an undercurrent in the mind because it's just programmed in there, kind of like without consent, but there's consent. It's just that it's consent, it's not real consent, I guess, because it's consent under duress, right? Because you're you're afraid. That's why you would consent to being programmed like that in the first place. So a lot of Christians believe that sacrifice is part of God's plan for them. Well, God must want it this way, right? Like the pain itself is redemptive, like you're redeeming yourself for sins through pain, like Jesus did through the crucifixion. And Jesus is calling it in paragraph one here a mistake that comes to what he that comes from what he's referring to as scarcity fallacy. Okay, that means the belief that something real can be lost, that there that that there can somehow not be enough, that something must be paid. It's the undercurrent of this idea that we have to earn a living, even something must be sacrificed. Do you see that? That's the kind of thought system that got developed. And uh what we've all been conditioned toward as we were developing our self-image. So our self-image is like made of these kind of undercurrents, and that's why he's going into it like this. So once you're aware that nothing real can ever be lost, then there's nothing to pay for. Now suffering has no value. See, when you see that the suffering itself has no value, I mean, you can say it's great because it's a signal, it gives you a signal, but it has no inherent value in itself. Like it doesn't need to go on. This need not be. Okay. Uh, because there's nothing that suffering in itself can accomplish, can accomplish, okay. So paragraph one undid this structure that loss is real, that sacrifice is a necessary thing, or that suffering serves some kind of purpose. Okay. So this is much simpler. Just, you know, paragraph one makes it so much simpler. It's like nothing real is harmed, nothing's lost. So therefore, nothing needs to be paid for. See, nothing needs, you don't need to do any suffering. Now, when you perceive yourself in a state where you're you're like, but I'm suffering, right? I I'm I'm suffering maybe over these things or whatever the story is. It's like the suffering itself doesn't matter, doesn't mean anything. Your experience, it's like a doorway. So your experience that seems to include suffering, that makes it a doorway for you to see that there's nothing worth or having any value in what you're suffering over. See, once you see that what you're suffering over has no value, the suffering itself just can't be. It doesn't mean anything. Nothing needs to be paid. So it looks like with Jesus being crucified, that he paid for sins the way the Bible is written and the way people have come to misunderstand it. Okay, so let's go on to paragraph two, unless anyone has any questions about paragraph one that I just went over. You could always raise your hand if you're on Zoom as well. If you just want to talk about something. Moving on. Paragraph two, sentence one, chapter three, section three. If the crucifixion is seen from an upside down point of view, it certainly does appear as if God permitted and even encouraged one of his sons to suffer because he was good. That's the sentence in A Course in Miracles, paragraph two, sentence one of chapter three, section three. So Jesus isn't telling us here what the crucifixion means, he's telling us what we think it means, is based on how we are seeing, and that's everything in A Course in Miracles, it's never what happened, it's always how is it being interpreted? So when he says upside down point of view in there, okay, he's not being a poet. Well, he is a poet, but I don't know. It's an upside down point of view. A mind that believes in separation will see everything upside down and backwards. That's how it works. So, what does backwards or upside down, like he's saying, actually look like? What does that mean? So love isn't recognized as love, it's getting translated into sacrifice. Innocence is not recognized as innocence, it's something that can be attacked, right? Power is not understood as being creative, it becomes something used to destroy upside down, upside down perception. The crucifixion has been interpreted in a specific way, Jesus is pointing out here, not just as an event, like the material event that occurred, apparently, but as a message, and the message people took from it, which is upside down and backwards, is God allowed this. Maybe God even wanted this, and somehow the suffering had to happen because Jesus was so good, he was so great that he needed to do a bunch of suffering. Does that make any sense? No. Well, let me not just tell you no, you you figure it out for yourself. This is a good place to just pause. People interpreted this, society, whatever you want to say, interpreted this as this suffering had to happen to this person because he was so good. I mean, is that not distortion? Can you feel that? Just notice that. It's not just suffering exists. We got suffering exists out of this interpretation, and that goodness leads to suffering, it gets planted, the belief gets planted, and once it's accepted, even subtly, which you know, we just learn this growing up in an upside down and backwards world, apparently. I mean, we gave it to ourselves, it just reshapes the inner experience of God, which, you know, you have this close connection, it's inner experience of God that actually gets uh covered over. I was almost gonna say replaced, but I don't feel like it's replaced. I feel like it's more like it's covered over because it never goes away. Uh, let's say substituted. Yes, that's the one.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

It ends up being substituted for something else.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

Now the mind starts to associate love as pain, and you know, devotion as being uh some kind of loss, surrendering as risking something, something that's real. So I know lots of people that say I trust God and I love God, but underneath there's this, what would it cost me? And you know, again, this is important because people don't consciously think, well, sometimes they do, but some most people don't, I think, that God wants them to suffer, do they? Maybe they do. God wants me to suffer? That makes no sense. They might feel something like if I go all the way, something might be taken. And you know, I notice this within myself too. There's a sense like, holy shit, it's just me. There isn't anything else, there isn't anyone else. Every single story that occurs to me, it's me making a story, and making a story mean something, and it's like, whoa, I noticed that. I noticed there's fear in the unconscious mind that prevents me from surrendering completely and seeing completely beyond this world, past this world, right? There's something that still needs to be undone, apparently. It's all an appearance because it's already been done. There's a sense if I really give myself over to this, I might be hurt. There might be there might be pain involved. If I follow this completely, if I, you know, it basically it's in my mind where where my mind is uh observing and then witnessing and then just experiencing the situation as it is and recognizing that it's all coming from my own mind. It's like, shit, there's a sense if I completely follow this, I don't know what's gonna happen to me. I mean, I have an idea. There's a part that there's this hesitation, a subtle holding back, and that's what this world is reflecting for all of us, where we're still perceiving a world.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

It's a this subtle hesitation to completely release it.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

So Jesus is here, he's correcting the perception that made the crucifixion mean something that it never meant. Okay, let's check that sentence again. If the crucifixion is seen from an upside-down point of view, it certainly does appear as if God permitted and even encouraged one of his sons to suffer because he was good. So if you're seeing through the ego's lens, then of course it looks like God allowed suffering, right? That's what makes sense when you're seeing through the ego's lens. That's what makes sense to an ego. I mean, geez, look at it. Looks pretty painful.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

There's lots of blood involved, and it's meant to look like goodness is being punished.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

But it's not because it's true that goodness gets punished, it's just because perception is reversed. Upside down, he said. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Upside down point of view is what he says in there.

Devotion Does Not Equal Truth

SPEAKER_02 21:40

So this sentence is an invitation to be questioning. What if everything I thought that this meant comes from an upside down way of seeing? That's how the entire meaning of uh the entire meaning that you gave to the crucifixion, even subtly, you don't even have to be a Christian, you don't even have to uh come from a Christian home or anything. I mean, it's kind of like embedded into the culture. The meaning of the crucifixion for you is about to change. Just for just by participating here. You don't have to uh effort a bunch just by participating here and wanting that for yourself, right? All right, I think that is great for sentence one. Let's go to sentence two, paragraph two. Many very devoted ministers preach this every day. Many very devoted ministers preach this every day.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

So first thing that stands out to me is earlier he was talking about many very sincere Christians have misunderstood. And now he's saying many very devoted ministers preach this every day. So the Christians misunderstood the crucifixion, the devoted ministers are also preaching this meaning of the crucifixion that requires ongoing crucifixion, basically, suffering, right? If you accept this meaning that these very devoted ministers preach every day, you're setting yourself up. But Jesus isn't criticizing anyone harshly. Look at that. He says, very sincere of the Christians, very devoted of the ministers. He's not saying they're careless, he's not saying they're manipulative, he's not saying they're dishonest. He's saying very devoted ministers. So what he's saying is these are people who are committed. You know, he's not sugarcoating anything. He's not looking at ministers that aren't devoted and saying they're devoted. He's saying these are the ones who are sincere, committed to the truth, genuinely wanting to serve God, genuinely wanting to guide others toward God. So this removes an idea that error, which that's an error, what they're what these uh very devoted ministers are talking about, preaching. It doesn't necessarily come from bad intention. People could be having good intentions, it comes from misperception that hasn't yet been questioned. So these ministers that he's talking about have accepted the interpretation we just looked at from sentence one that the crucifixion had a divine purpose, suffering has meaning, God allowed it, right? God allowed it. Is that something that very devoted ministers preach and very sincere Christians believe? I've heard that a lot. These ministers believe it because they teach it, they don't believe it as a theory that leads to something else, they actually take it as the truth. And you know, when something's taught with devotion like that, it carries weight for people. You guys, I notice I'm just gonna share a little story right here. Um, because my mom, you know, she loves me, she loves my example, she sees my example and she loves it. As soon as there's something about the Bible that comes up, she becomes incredibly defensive. Do not say anything about the King James Bible. You know, I just I just uh asked, who is King James?

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Like now with AI, you could just look stuff up, you can see how that thing came about. It's ridiculous how easily it is to see.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

Okay, we've been set up, but when the belief is so so so strong, that's why he says, very sincere ministers. My mom's a minister and Christians, and she's a Christian. Um, this is something that's been taught with devotion. It carries weight for them, it has authority for them, it feels trustworthy. Okay, so people are automatically thinking this must be true. Look at how sincerely everyone is sharing it. These people are sweeties. My mom's a real sweetie. You know, I told her the other day, thank you so much for being such a light and uplifting everyone everywhere you go. Like that's her, that's her um intention.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Wherever she goes, she's looking to uplift people, show them the love of God through upliftment, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:13

So this is how this distortion became unstable, became or became stable in the mind, destabilized the mind in a way, um, not through forcing people to believe it, but through repetition combined with this sincerity and devotion. So here's where it's it's important for us because it isn't just about ministers, this is about how our mind works. We all do this. We take something we believed, something we haven't fully questioned, and we pass it on, don't we? Isn't that funny? Listen to this one. I heard this one today. Some things never change. Hmm. Has has that been questioned? Because, you know, it's like I hear that, and for one, I know I projected it. So I'm not blaming a person or anything, but I'm immediately allowing a correction in my mind. One thing never changes. We are as God created us, that's what never changes. You see how it's how words are spells like that. Some things never change. That's what everyone always said as I was growing up. And I'm just gonna say that too, because I don't like this thing. This sucks. It looks like it's probably never gonna change. So I'm just gonna say right here, some things never change. See, I'm not saying it's bad to say that, just notice it. Where did this come from? Right? Where did this come from? Because our words are like spells, however, those spells are really cast through feeling and not word. There's a certain feeling sense that goes along with that. It's uh it's like giving up, not in a way that's helpful. It's like giving up on trying to be helpful, giving up on meaning, let's say meaning to be helpful, intending to be helpful. Because some things never change.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

See.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

So the teaching in this sentence is not telling you to be wary of ministers, it's to be aware that the minister's sincerity and devotion does not equal truth. And even more deeply than that, be willing to question what's been repeated, even if it's been repeated with love. So even devotion when it's filtered through the ego, and you know, when you're taking love to require sacrifice, that means things are being filtered through the ego. So devotion becomes devotion to a misinterpretation. So nothing's gone wrong. At some point, everyone's just going to recognize this has been taught to us, but it's not really true. And that's well, you know, first they'll question, is it true? And then find out that just that question, just be just that question. Notice how someone who's uh really committed to the dogma they've been taught, they won't ask that question. Is it true? Is it really true? Just because it says it there, is it really true? These words written down on paper, even a course in miracles, the Bible, whatever, they're subject to misinterpretation, even if they're written perfectly. So you know you have an inner you have an inner guidance system, or an you can even say an inner guide. It's the same guide as everyone has. Right? Uh it's it's between you and your guide in your higher self to see what this is pointing to. What everything is pointing to. Even this teaching. You know, don't just believe me when I say this is what it says. I've got a lot of sincerity and devotion too, but that doesn't mean that I'm right all the time.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Check in. Ooh. All right.

Projection Creates Fear Of God

SPEAKER_02 34:18

If there are no questions here, we go. On to paragraph two, sentence three. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which actually arose out of the combined projection of a large number of my own would-be followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God. Let's hear that again. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which actually arose out of the combined projection of a large number of my own would-be followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God. So he's telling us, he's not describing anymore what has been taught. Now he's going this particularly unfortunate interpretation. So he's telling us where these teachings came from. They came from this particularly unfortunate interpretation.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

Right, because it could seem like maybe that's what the crucifixion was meant to teach. He said the interpretation rose from projection, though.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

See, people took the crucifixion as meaning that God was teaching something. God was teaching a lesson to you. Here's what happens when you're good, you know. This is what and you know, you just have to put up with it. This is how you get to heaven. So here he's he's saying this interpretation arose from projection. That means it did not arise from God. If it's projection, it didn't come from God, it didn't come from truth. It's not a divine revelation if it's projection, it came from a mind believing it's separated from its source, and not just one mind, it is all one mind, but you know, he's distinguishing here combined projection. See, combined projection is exactly how the ego builds up what appears to be the truth, combined projection. Right? So, what is that? You've got a group of people holding this these similar underlying beliefs, even if they're not spoken, but I hear them spoken. I hear people speak them. I just undo the error in my mind right away when I hear someone speak a belief. I I overheard a woman who was trying to lose weight, and she spoke the belief that she doesn't drink enough water. I know I don't drink enough water, and I could sense the tone of that that she was projecting onto herself that it's her fault because she doesn't drink enough water and just undo that belief. Notice, recognize that's one of those projections, guilty projections. It's based on a guilty uh programming, and this is Jesus is revealing this guilty programming, the way people have interpreted the crucifixion. He's saying it's guilty programming, basically. So all these people in this group are holding similar underlying beliefs. The guiltiness, wrongdoing deserves punishment is one of the beliefs. Eye for an eye, right? Wrongdoing deserves punishment, suffering has value, sacrifice means something. Okay, and then those are the beliefs, those are the underlying beliefs, and then something happens in in the in the dream in the field. In this case, the crucifixion happened in the field. And instead of seeing the crucifixion clearly, they interpreted the crucifixion through the same beliefs that caused the crucifixion to arise on the surface in the first place.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

See that?

SPEAKER_02 39:53

So the meaning they have assigned to the crucifixion didn't come from the crucifixion as an event. That meaning came from the mind that's looking at it.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Let's look at the sentence again.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which actually arose out of the combined projection of a large number of my own would-be followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God. So a mind that's to a mind that's bitterly afraid of God, the crucifixion is something that's necessary, it's it becomes something purposeful to them. Doesn't mean it actually is necessary, and it doesn't actually happen. Nothing actually happens here either, but it gets interpreted as being divinely allowed. God is not allowing this, it's not like that, or even like it had some kind of a divine intent, like Jesus and God got together and said, Let's do this. So once that kind of meaning is agreed upon collectively, it becomes like a solid, shared, ingrained belief that's naturally taught through uh just being words, actions, the way people respond to events, right? That's the way our minds have been programmed through childhood, you could say, although it's being projected right now. So you can, you know, when you see it like that, you can return to the truth right now. You don't have to wait for anything to happen. So this belief became doctrine. At that point, no one questions it, no one says, Where did this interpretation even come from? It's just accepted, it's just like this is what it means. I, you know, I told my mom she said something about Jesus dying for our sins, and I was like, man, that is a nightmarish fairy tale you're telling. Right? That's that's when she's like, oh my goodness, you don't believe the Bible at all anymore? And I go, no, that's not what I'm saying. But Jesus has reinterpreted it since this king's committee. Put this one out that you're reading.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

It was funny.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

Uh, it was really sweet because I could feel the energy, and just to give you guys an example of how something is approached like this, I could feel the energy of defensiveness, like, don't fuck with the Bible, don't fucking go there, right? And I could sense that in my body's energy field. And you know, we started talking about it originally because I was going, Mom, if you don't transcend this dream before you pass away, once you pass away, don't come back. Okay. The the projections that you make in the death realm tell you, and they're really sweet and it's really calm and lovely, they tell you that you're important here. Don't buy into self-importance, don't come back. So then once you put up the big defenses, because it it led to this somehow that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. So it's just like it just kind of like popped out of my that is a nightmare, a nightmarish fairy tale you are telling. Anyways, so then so then I just Go well, none of that is important. Just remember, remember this when you're reviewing your life in the death realm, should you not uh see completely heaven completely before apparent death, don't come back. She's like, I agree, right? But it's like noticing that uh that the mind, how it's been conditioned to be so defensive about this book and what it's saying in this book. They're never questioning where did this meaning come from. My mom, it's like you could see this. The whole self-image that she built came from this book. She was raised Catholic, then she became a Christian missionary, and she's still like a kind of like a missionary kind of spirit. And her whole image is uh based on this idea that Christ died for our sins. See, because the book says so. So there's no questioning where did this meaning come from? So also it's not up to us to make them see, you know, it's like whatever the Holy Spirit guides us to share. I say the Holy Spirit is just sharing right through me. That's what it feels like, because it's not stressful or tense at all. When I perceive stress or tension, I just sink back into that feeling of peace in my body's energy field. It's always present, and it's like there's an automatic uh intention, uh, meaning, like, how can I be the most helpful, right? Not to be right. So it's like, worry about that. Don't worry about that so much. Okay. So these things get accepted, like this is just what it means. This is just what it means, this is just what it is. Don't talk to me about it uh anymore. Excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Woo! Ah, felt good.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

So this is how projection, Jesus is showing us how projection actually becomes theology. Now look at the the now look at this part. He calls it particularly unfortunate. Let me go back to that sentence. This particularly unfortunate interpretation is what he said. See, it's it's unfortunate, he's calling it particularly unfortunate to point out that this isn't a small thing. Because what has this interpretation produced? Bitter fear of God. That's no small thing, right? What have look at how powerful we are to make an interpretation and make an effect? That's the effect, bitterly afraid of God, and just notice that. Not just confused, he's not saying confused about God, he's not saying unsure about God, but afraid and not mildly afraid, bitterly afraid. So what he's pointing to is this is deeply embedded fear, it's emotionally charged fear. It's difficult for people to question until they're ready to question it, right? I mean, I was raised a Christian missionary with the belief that God or that, yeah, that God sent Jesus to die for our sins. It's just that that part didn't really land for me. And so I just took the part that I liked, and that's communion with Jesus. I took that part that I liked. I don't know what this means. I'm not gonna decide. Communion with Jesus, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:26

That open that's what opens it up.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

So being bitterly afraid of God means God is not being experienced as love. How can God be experienced as love itself when there's bitter fear of God? This God allows suffering. This God maybe even requires suffering, maybe he requires suffering as redemption. He may even see suffering as something that's meaningful. And if that's the case, your mind isn't fully trusting, it can't fully trust God, it can't relax, it cannot surrender to God. Because beneath all of it, there's this belief.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

If I get too close to God, something could happen to me.

The Anti Religious Idea Of Sacrifice

SPEAKER_02 49:34

So, what Jesus is undoing through this sentence and through this part is this misunderstanding of the crucifixion, but not just that, not just a misunderstanding of the crucifixion. This is the structure of fear that keeps the mind from returning to God. It subtly plays, kind of like in the background, and it keeps the mind from returning to God, and he's showing how this is built, it's built through projection agreed upon, right? Agreed upon by what a large number of my own would-be followers, is what he says, and then that's taught as the truth. So projection doesn't just make up the world we seem to see, it actually assigns meaning to it, and then our mind believes in the meaning it assigned. That's why, in a course in miracles, we start out really early on practicing. I've given this all of the meaning it has for me. I've given everything, all the meaning it has for me. In this case, the meaning became God and suffering go together. And this is what Jesus is undoing in this section. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you to everyone. Thank you for joining you, sweeties. We are going to paragraph two sentence four now. We're on page 111. Let me just double-check that. We're still there. Yes, we are. Page 111. Fun sentences. I hope you agree. I'm having a great time. This particularly anti-religious concept happens to enter into many religions, and this is neither by chance nor coincidence. There's a footnote here, which I'll get to. Once again, this particularly anti-religious concept happens to enter into many religions, and this is neither by chance nor coincidence. So this particularly anti something that makes people afraid of God seems to be an anti-religious concept, isn't it? So he's giving what we've been looking at a name too, and he's he's calling it what it is, anti-religious. Okay, it's not partially true, it's anti-religious. And the idea that he's talking about, the interpretation of the crucifixion, is deeply embedded inside all religion. This particularly anti-religious concept happens to enter many religions. Correction, many religions, and this is neither by chance nor coincidence. Hmm, what fun! So, this anti-religious concept is embedded within religion. So, how can something be inside of religion and be anti-religious? So, look at what religion really means. What is religion in this context? It's not an institution. In the context of a Course in Miracles, in the context of what Jesus is teaching, religion is something that reconnects the mind to God, restores the connection between mind and God, right? It restores awareness of love, it undoes separation. That's religion. Something that does that. So something that moves the mind toward trust, peace, intimacy with God, recognition of what love is. That's religious. But this concept that Jesus died for our sins, it teaches subtly because it's just ingrained in us, but powerfully too, that God allows suffering. You know, it seems to me that this whole perception, this whole perceived world is only manifesting because there is a subtle, unseen belief that God allows suffering. If God didn't allow this and that was believed fully, could we see it? I doubt it. It's teaching that God may even use suffering to do a good thing. That's some value being added to suffering if God uses it to do a good thing, right? That's definitely some value added. Give me some of that suffering. But you know, not just suffering of anyone, suffering of the good, suffering of who's good. We don't, you know, bad people suffering, that's no big deal. We want that, we expect that, but no, suffering of the good. Okay, we have a comment here from Glenn. Quote, Jesus died for our sins was a story I used to allow me to sin with gusto. Like I had an unlimited sin credit card. Hooray! Thank you, Jesus. That's fun.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, it reminds me when I lived in Orange County.

SPEAKER_02 56:39

It was so funny that I got this perception. Whenever church was letting out, there would always be all this traffic coming out of this huge church, right? I think it's called Crystal Cathedral. And man, the driving, it was like the opposite of driving with Aloha.

SPEAKER_01 56:57

And it was just like kind of like a funny joke because when driving seemed like it was rude or aggressive, we would look at the bumper sticker or their bumper, and if we saw one of those Jesus fishes on there, it was like, oh, okay, we understand. They go repent for their sins on Sunday and then sin all week. That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 57:24

That's fun. And you know, sin in this case, which would uh which would manifest as like rude or disrespectful kind of behavior, is actually looking down on people who don't believe like you, really. You know, it's like when we see that this is all our own projection, all people are equal. Right? All people are equal. I've always had that interpretation anyway. That's why I didn't fall into uh like high school clicks when I was a when I was a teenager. I didn't fall into those kind of clicks that would say, don't talk to that person, they're a dork or something like that. I'd be like, that makes absolutely no sense. Everyone is totally equal. If they're cool to me and we're having some good vibes together, I fucking like them. I don't care what their clothes look like or anything like that. So this concept, right, that Jesus died for our sins, it's the opposite, it's saying something opposite, it's teaching us that love requires sacrifice, and just notice what that does to believe that instead of moving toward God through more relaxation, the mind pulls back instead of trusting God completely, there's this caution. Am I gonna get crucified too? Right, instead of openness, hesitation because it subtly believed that suffering is somehow meaningful to God, so it feels like closeness to God costs something. This is how devotion is conflicted. I love God, I want to surrender to God, but there's something I have to take care of first. That's kind of like what I'm talking about in the death realm, you know, when you're propping up these beings, these sweet loving beings where you feel really all this comfort in their presence to tell you how important it is and how people need you to go back to earth, which is still, you know, you're just going from one projection for to another, not going anywhere. And there's this self-importance, like you need to sacrifice, you don't need to, you can just go straight to God. So it's anti-religious because this let's see what Jesus called it again, particularly anti-religious concepts happens to enter many religions, and this is neither by chance nor coincidence. So the anti-religious concept, which leads to bitterly afraid of God, and then he adds this is neither by chance nor coincidence. So it he's saying it's not random, it isn't just some innocent misunderstanding, it serves a function for the ego. Ego wants suffering to seem meaningful, pain to seem like it has some purpose. Sacrifice to you know give you an idea that you're being holy. It's a holy sacrifice. It keeps the entire system of guilt intact. Suffering isn't even being questioned, instead, it's justified, it's spiritualized. And once that happens, once suffering is seen as valuable. The mind can't can't fully surrender to God. That needs to be undone. Now let's bring in the footnote. Footnote twenty-four. This quote anti-religious concept seems to be that God sees the suffering of certain people, particularly good people, as having saving value for the whole. Oh, I like that way of saying it. Basically, that's what you know, this anti-religious concept that comes from perception of the crucifixion, seems to be that God sees the suffering of certain people, particularly good people, as having saving value for the whole. And more specifically, suffering of those who are good once again. Once again, good guys finish last, right? There's an effect of this kind of thinking, it just becomes ingrained into the thinking. Now, notice other ways this is embedded into human thinking. They suffered for us. Look at the armed forces, they go and they suffer for us, right? There was a reason for their pain. It had to happen, it served the greater good. So there's like it's it, there's this attempt to make sacrifice logical, and to the ego, it is logical. It is logical to the ego. Without war, you can't have freedom. That's why we're having wars, right? It's logic, it's not reason, it's logic. There's a difference. The logic of sacrifice that someone must pay something, that pain redeems, that suffering saves people. And Jesus is saying, This is not divine, this is not coming from a divine interpretation, this is projection. That's the word he used. This is guilt trying to justify something. You know, go back to the crucifixion only manifested because people believed that suffering had value in the first place. They called it in and then they interpreted it from the same mind. So look at this if God is love, then suffering cannot have value. Okay, that's a misinterpreted. Misinterpretation of love, if your interpretation of love requires payment, sacrifice, any kind of loss, pain, love does not use pain.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:20

Pain dissolves in the presence of love.

Pause And Ask How Could This Be

SPEAKER_02 1:06:26

So the moment you give suffering any meaning, God Himself has been misinterpreted. This is just easy, I mean, to just put into your day, noticing when it seems like suffering is required, some kind of loss is required, you have to earn anything. That's a manifestation of this kind of thinking, this way of thinking. You say it's an effect, the effect of this way of thinking. So there's an upside-down perception, devoted ministers here. There's a projection, many people projecting, many would-be followers of Jesus projecting. And all of it leads to one core distortion that suffering is meaningful in God's plan. Jesus is cutting that out right here. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm going to read that sentence one last time, and that's sentence four of paragraph two, part three, chapter three. This particularly anti-religious concept happens to enter into many religions, and this is neither by chance nor coincidence. Thank you for going over that with me. I love you. All right, next sentence. Now we're going to talk about the real Christian. This is Jesus' words here, and of course, in miracles. The real Christian would have to pause and ask, How could this be? So notice this. He's been exposing misinterpretation, showing where it came from, naming the effect, right? Bitterly afraid of God. But now he's returning his attention to the listener.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:00

He's saying pause.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:05

Pause. That's the movement. The real Christian in this sense isn't someone who defends their belief. It isn't someone who defends their book. Someone who's aligned with love, innocence, non-attack. Someone who actually wants the truth more than they want the Christian tradition to keep the traditions alive, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:39

They want the truth more than they want to, let's say, go to church.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:51

You know, from that place, when some from someone who actually wants the truth, you know, this is beyond devotion and stuff like this. Devotion, sincerity, all this. It's like I actually want the truth. I don't care about anything I've been told before. I'm open. This idea cannot be accepted from the place of actually wanting the truth because you can tell the interruption up the interruption of the truth by taking this thought as true. You can see the interruption. It's like something doesn't line up. God is love and then he sent his son to die. How could this be? He's saying that's the question. How could this be? That question, simple question, how could this be? That's your clarity or the person's clarity beginning to return. This is how the mind recognizes something here isn't matching love. Something here isn't matching what I know to be true. Everyone will see.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:17

Everyone will see.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:32

You know, this recognition, instead of saying, well, this must be right because it's been it's what's been taught. It must be true. There's a willingness to stop and look, not to just rush past this inconsistency. You know, I've heard uh I've heard so many times, don't question it. Because if you question it, you're just gonna not believe it. And you know, you need to believe it, otherwise you're gonna uh have a hard time in life. You need to believe it, otherwise you're not gonna go to heaven. So don't question it. See, have you guys heard that too? So this is an advanced moment in the mind when it's like, how can that actually be? He stops rushing past this. That's what I noticed. It's just like, shh, don't talk about that. There's some things that you just don't understand about the Bible, just believe it, just believe what it says. See, when you slow down and just feel it, go, how can that actually be? Is that true? Can that actually be? It's like you let the ego take a little break. The ego wants to resolve things quickly, it's jumping towards something. It wants to defend what it believes. It's like, ha, it doesn't want to be the uncomfortable. But Jesus is just inviting us here to stay in that place, open that question up. Maybe you still seem to believe in an eye for an eye. Maybe you think people should be suffering because they do something wrong. I'll tell you guys a little story about something that's going down uh in Lower Pune. I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook over some days, and then today I was guided to just make a comment on there because there was this fighting back and forth about whether this person should be forgiven. And I'm like, that doesn't really, that isn't really what they're even talking about. They're talking about should he be at the festival after he has molested underage girls? Should he be invited to the festival to be a headliner at the festival? And it's like, man, when you get caught up in this idea that, you know, love is suffering, it's like people are putting themselves out to be like suffering over this thing. And there's there's just nothing because you know, nothing really occurs. And then at the same time, there's no uh there's no need to complicate anything. It's like, man, if the people coming to the festival don't want him at the festival, it's kind of like a no-brainer. Right? It's like all of this stuff is like required, it's like there's this requirement. And you know, people on there are saying that he should uh he should not be on the stage. That should be punishment, and it's not like that at all. No one needs no one needs any punishment. It's like it comes down to real practical matters. You're running a festival, the people, do the people at the festival want to see this person at the festival or not? Is it gonna get more people interested in the festival? How does it feel? Are you are you comfortable with people being traumatized coming around, pop possibly protesting out there? Like, it's not a matter of what he deserves. It's not even a matter of those what those who consider themselves victims of his abuse deserve. Nothing needs to be punished, and how could God act in a way that we're untold we're unworthy of?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:39

You know, in a way that's murderous.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:48

Would we set up our son to be murdered for the greater good? Does that make any sense? Why would God do that? And that's how this structure in our mind begins to loosen up. Because it can't actually hold up when we're really looking. So this is this sentence, it's depicting the moment where our belief, our devotion to belief, gives way to devotion to seeing, to clarity. See that it's like going beyond theology. This is the same moment in any situation where something feels off or doesn't align or doesn't reflect love. Instead of explaining it away, or in the case I've heard a lot, don't question it. It says what it says and it means what it says. Instead of that, you pause, you let the question be on your heart. That's the beginning of seeing things with clarity and not through what you've learned through other people's conditioning, basically world conditioning. All right, unless you guys have any questions, we are going to the next sentence. Where are we? Sentence six, the last sentence of paragraph two in chapter three, section three of a course in miracles, complete and annotated edition. We are on page one eleven. No, we we did we went past that already. We are on page one twelve now. How fun! We even have a footnote. Yay. Is it likely that God himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which his own words have clearly stated is unworthy of his children? Here's Jesus asking a question. Let's read it again. Is it likely that God himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which his own words have clearly stated is unworthy of his children? The kind of thinking unworthy of his children.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:56

So Jesus is asking this question to us.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:58

It's like, let that question sit for a moment. This question, if it's really heard, undoes the distortion in your mind. It's also so simple that it could be missed. This is an opportunity here. He's saying, you've been told what's unworthy of you. You've been taught, do not hate, do not attack, do not condemn, love your enemies. You've been shown a standard, someone who does that, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:38

A way of thinking that's reflecting on the truth, and that standard is being questioned here.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:59

Is it worthy of God's children? So would God think in a way that's beneath his own creation? Would God value suffering? Or require someone to sacrifice, or punish someone for being innocent?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:28

Or punish someone for being guilty for that matter, for believing they're guilty.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:32

God doesn't see any guilt. Everyone's innocent. When we're told not to think that way ourselves, would he think, would God think in the way that he would not want us to think ourselves? Just notice that. If we're his creation, even in the Bible it says we're created in his in his image. This just bypasses all theology completely. It doesn't depend on belief.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:10

Use reason.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:16

It simply doesn't depend on any interpretation except is this worthy of you? Is this kind of behavior killing your son worthy of you? If it's not worthy of you, it's not worthy of God either. God's not gonna do something that he's telling you not to do. Uh attack. God didn't create you to attack. He's not really telling you not to attack. It's just that you cannot attack. It's not really a thing. Uh when you uh when you perceive yourself attacking, your mind is actually blank. I mean, you you think it's like for some reason you're supposed to be more holy than God, not kill, but God kills. Are you more loving than God? Like I think everyone on here uh can agree that they're not gonna kill their son. Are you more loving than God? There's another question to ask. If punishing people is behavior that's unworthy of you, then it would also be unworthy of God.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:59

It's impossible that God uses punishment. If suffering is not something you are called to value, you don't have to value it because God doesn't value suffering at all.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:25

So feel that these this question. Jesus has a question here. Is it likely that God himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which his own words have clearly stated is unworthy of his children? His own words, we'll get into that. This would require God to think like an ego, wouldn't it? And that is not possible. So this is collapsing this whole structure of belief that God allowed suffering, that God gave suffering, meaning that he used it for any good. God is not a projection of the ego, so he's not conflicted or divided. He does not teach one thing and then embody the opposite. God is perfect love. Now, here's the footnote. Quote, his own words. We're getting into his own words here in the footnote, where Jesus said this in the sentence. Let's look at the sentence once more, though. Is it likely that God himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which his own words have clearly stated is unworthy of his children? Footnote 25. Quote, his own words, end quote, seems to refer to the Bible, particularly the gospels, with their emphasis on loving even one's enemies. Matthew 5, 44 and Luke 6, 35. Loving the enemy is clearly incompatible with punishing the good.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:27

Good footnote again.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:34

So this ties it back to what's been taught already. Love your enemies. There, you don't really have any enemies, but this is just a way of saying it. Not to tolerate them or endure them, but love them. So that would be incompatible with the idea that God punishes anyone, particularly the good, that he uses suffering at all, that he assigns any value to people going through pain. So one of these ideas must be false. If God is love, it's not going to be congruent that God condones suffering. See? They don't connect. One of them must be false. And Jesus is making it clear which one is false here. And this is the last sentence of paragraph two. So what's been undone here is not just a misunderstanding of the crucifixion, it's a misunderstanding of God. And what's restored to our awareness is God doesn't think like an ego. God doesn't value suffering. God doesn't punish. So any fear of God, any hesitation around God, any sense that love might cost you something is coming from an upside-down way of seeing. It's not coming from the truth. So the mind was taught something, accepted it, became afraid. And now, through a question, the mind is being invited here to recognize that could have never been true.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:44

That makes no sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:08

So let's do a little review here. Let me just check if anyone has any questions. You guys are doing awesome. Thank you for chilling with me. I love you. All right. So starting out sentence one, Jesus was showing that the problem is not the crucifixion itself, it's the way the crucifixion has been seen. From an upside-down point of view, which he says later in paragraph two, it appears that God permitted and even encouraged suffering. And that suffering was somehow tied to goodness. So that's the distortion that was named in sentence one. And then in sentence two, he was showing how that distortion is held in place. It's taught by very devoted ministers.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:11

So it's not a malicious thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:21

Yeah, and sentence one is where many very sincere Christians, he's saying, have misunderstood. Because they believed in the scarcity fallacy. So sentence two had the sincere Christians, or sentence one, the sincere Christians, to sentence two, the devoted ministers showing how this is held in place. So far, we've had a misunderstanding of the crucifixion and repeated reinforcement of that misunderstanding through devotion. Now we're going into the origination projection, not truth.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:37

All right.

Protect Truth Without Attacking Others

SPEAKER_02 1:31:01

On this is the way to relate. This is the way to relate with everyone. All misinterpretation, all the projection, all the fear. Argue it, argue about it, prove that it's wrong, attack their error. But Jesus is saying, this is not the way, and I can speak from experience, this is not the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:37

I could feel that it's off. It says the best defense in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:48

So he's speaking to something human here. The feeling that something is off. Something is not true. Something needs to be addressed. The best defense, as always, is not to attack another's position, but rather to protect the truth. The ego would translate this feeling like something is false. Something's being said that's false, and transit translated into, I need to defend against this. So that looks like debating, correcting, pointing out what's wrong. You know, that that arose for me today. I had an opportunity like that today when someone said, uh, what was it? Some things never change. And she was referring to uh people who don't want to wake up. Some things never change. The first thing that came to my mind was to tell her that's uh uh I forgot, but make it something bad. And before responding, I sat with it for a second. I'm was that is that truly helpful? And it was like, no, and the answer that came up was something that could uh connect us rather than create division, artificial division, because of this sense that the truth needs defense. But what Jesus is saying here is that truth, uh, he's saying that truth does need protection. The best defense is always not to attack another's position, but rather to protect the truth. Who do I remember that all the time? I have perceived myself not remembering it from time to time. Will I remember it in the future? Let's see. Yay. I would love to. Yeah. I mean, this kind of gripping thing, this is just showing our patterns. It's revealing our patterns, it's giving us opportunities to see through it. I think for a lot of people, our tendency is to do this to uh correct, debate, pointing out what's wrong, trying to change another person's mind. No need. But notice what he says, not to attack another's position. Why does he say that? Because the moment you attack, even if you're right, quote unquote right, because you got the facts down, you already entered that thought system that you don't like. You've already accepted conflict, you've accepted, excuse me, you've accepted conflict, you've accepted opposition as being true, you've you've accepted separation. It's like you have to, this is what this is how I experience it. In order for me to kind of like keep on doubling down on the situation, I have to abandon my feeling sense because I can sense the contraction when I've accepted some conflict as if it's real, and there's a sense that I'm defending against something that's true. And once you defend the truth, it's not even the truth anymore to you because you're defending it. Make sense? Ask me if you have any questions. So once you've accepted that conflict is true, something that you need to defend, there's an opposition, there's a sense of separation, and now you're trying to win within the illusion. I've just, you know, being on Facebook and being so vocal on Facebook has been such a blessing for me because I've been able to repeat that pattern so many times that I can see it really well. Like it's made me good at it. It's funny because in Hawaii, Hawaii, there's a term and it's a bum-bye you learn. And uh, and I think it means that when you get bummed out by something, that's how you learn something. It's like, oh, that wasn't the effect I was going for. And you see it play out, you see it play out, and you have willingness, and your willingness grows and grows, and then you see, oh, okay, I can see where I never need to like look up and go, how did I get in this conflict? It's like obvious. There was defensiveness, that's all. So instead, Jesus is saying protect the truth, and that's completely different than defending the truth. Because protecting doesn't mean you're arguing for it, you're not in debates, you're proving it through through through showing that you don't need to prove it. And basically you're proving it to your own mind. There's there's nothing, you know, the proof, the ego's proof comes through worldly things. Proof of what's true comes through peace. So you're proving it by returning to peace. You don't need to prove it by convincing another person or writing the facts perfectly if you're talking about it on Facebook or something like that. Truth just doesn't need any defensiveness. It doesn't need to be made any stronger. It's already all powerful. So then what does it mean to protect it like he's talking about? This is what it means when he's talking about protecting the truth. Don't abandon the truth in your own mind. Don't let perception pull you into fear, into attack, into justifying fearful thoughts. Even when something appears to be wrong, that's the moment. Don't abandon the truth in your own mind. Look, you don't have to be purpose perfect as at this. You could actually be experiencing yourself abandoning the truth with a little nod to the truth in there. And that little willingness will grow. So you don't have to be any kind of nervous about this. But instead of and watch yourself in conversations and stuff, I need to fix this other person's misunderstanding. It's more like the truth is can I remain aligned with the truth right now? This is how you want to see. Can I just uh remain aligned with the truth right now? Uh and and uh register that thought that says I need to fix another person's misunderstanding of the truth as being a meaningless thought. See, even while seeing what appear appears to be an error, can I just chill out? Can I just chill the fuck out, basically? So this is a direct application Jesus is talking about right here. The best defense, as always, is not to attack another's position, but rather to protect the truth. In paragraph two, we saw how misinterpretation spreads, right? Devoted ministers, sincere Christians from paragraph one, how it gets shared, how it makes fear, how it makes the effect of bitterly afraid of God. And now in paragraph three, he's saying, don't try to fight the system, because fighting it strengthens it, strengthens it. That's the system of uh believing in guilt and shame and God punishing his son for being good. The correction, though, of this missed thought doesn't come from attacking the misinterpretation, it comes from you not leaving the truth within yourself. That's what it comes from. It's like, can I be okay? Can I just keep on listening and not be pulled into debate or conflict or trying to make someone wrong? I mean, that's a moment-to-moment decision that you're making. So even if you did just get pulled into conflict, you could suddenly realize holy shit, never mind. Nothing means anything. I'm not even interested in continuing the conversation. This doesn't even mean anything, it's just love. And that might not might not be what's said to the person who wants to debate you. I don't know. It just depends on how the Holy Spirit would best use your voice in that moment. See how this applies in conversations and relationships and teachings? A Course in Miracles is a very practical course, and that's one thing I really appreciate about it. So when someone is expressing something in our field that seems off, the ego is always jumped into jumping into correct or challenge or something like that. But the truth invites you, stay grounded, not be reacted, not joining in on the illusion. So I'll give you another example here with my mom again. Um what was it? I was having a conversation with her, and she was talking about scarcity. She was saying, just out of habit. I've seen this for many years, and it's just as if she's barely surviving, and she will use those words, barely surviving. And then in the same conversation, I heard her say something about my brother, like poor so-and-so. And it was so gentle the way it just came out of me. I said, Mom, you know, there's a few things in your languaging that I think if they were changed, you'd have an easier time with money. And she's like, Oh yeah, what are they? And she was sounded a little bit suspicious, but then when I started to say it and just the way it came out so gently, she's like, Oh my goodness, you're right. I see that. It was just like a really gentle conversation, and that's a matter of not me trying to say anything or not saying anything, but really just taking more of a back seat in let's see how this gets played with, because I know there's nothing wrong here. Like her soul isn't in any kind of danger, she's just gonna play this out until she wants to see. So the truth about this really invites us to stay grounded in a situation and not be reacting, not joining them in this defensive posture. So the best defense isn't like, let me prove this wrong, right? It's I'll not leave, I'm not gonna leave what I know is true. I'm not gonna leave what I know is true. Doesn't mean I need to protect, I don't need to uh correct someone else to not leave. I I would have to leave what I know is true to go and try to correct someone else. Let the Holy Spirit do all correcting. See, see what I mean? It's not like you can't say something to someone. That's why I gave you the example of my conversation with my mom. So when you will not leave what you know is true, something way more powerful becomes possible. When the truth isn't being abandoned in you, the truth undoes illusion without attack. It just automatically, the truth, when it is not abandoned in you, does undoes the illusion without any attack. So this sentence is completely changing how correction, our perception of how correction happens. Let's read it again. The best defense, as always, is not to attack another's position, but rather to protect the truth.

Stop Twisting Reality To Justify Pain

SPEAKER_00 1:45:30

Yay, thank you for joining. I love you. All right, moving on. Paragraph three, sentence two.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:45

This sentence is really uh explanatory for me. I love it. It is not necessary to consider anything acceptable if you have to turn a whole frame of reference around in order to justify it. One more time. It is not necessary to consider anything acceptable if you have to turn a whole frame of reference around in order to justify it. Again, very practical. He's addressing something that we do. After we see that something isn't quite aligned with the truth, there's a tendency to make it fit, anyways. Adjust our thinking, stretch the meaning, dismiss questions that come up in our mind. Until we can say, Okay, this makes sense. And he's saying, you don't have to do that. If you have to turn a whole frame of reference around, okay, so let's talk about frame of reference. This is a precise description of a frame of reference, the lens you're using, the system you're thinking with, the underlying set of beliefs you're operating from. So if something only works, if something's only seems acceptable when you have to twist your understanding or override what you know and ignore what feels true to you, or completely rearrange your thinking, then it's your signal that it's not true. And really, this is a relief. Because the ego will try to make everything consistent, right? The ego's inconsistent as can be, but tries to make everything consistent. Try to say things like, Well, maybe suffering does have a purpose, maybe God did need that to happen. Maybe this is just too complex to understand. So then you're adjusting your whole perception to that. Make something painful feel meaningful. This is exactly what happened with the crucifixion. The original perception was like, this is an attack. Something the world did to this poor man. But the mind tried to make it make sense spiritually, so it made this whole framework around it. Suffering is redemptive, right? Sacrifice is necessary. God uses pain for good. That's what Jesus is talking about with the turned frame of reference. He's saying you don't have to do that. You don't have to justify anything that doesn't align. Remember, God's will for you is perfect happiness. Does it align with that? You never have to accept whatever's distorting the truth. You don't have to make anything fit that actually doesn't fit with the truth, perfect love. Unshakable peace. Truth doesn't require mental gymnastics, inner conflict. It's not asking you to override the truth that you know, this perfect innocent being that's an Of God's love. So you can trust that for your inner guidance. If something feels like it requires you to twist yourself, deny your clarity, your peace, or rebuild how you understand things just to fit in and make things work. This doesn't have to be accepted by you. This is not like attacking anyone or rejecting anyone. It's just, I'm not agreeing with illusion.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:41

I'm not agreeing with that.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:52

So you don't attack another person's position, and you don't try to make it true either. See, sentence one was about you don't attack another person's position. You just remain with the truth and you let whatever isn't true fall away.

SPEAKER_00 1:51:15

That's your powerful place to stand, completely without any conflict. So hooray, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:35

I'm gonna wrap it up just so I'm not rushed through paragraph three, sentence three, where we will pick up next week. Yay, it's been such a joy sharing with you as always. And I'll be back again next week for ACIM Deep Dive, a Course in Miracles Deep Dive. I'll also be back on Sunday, this coming Sunday, and most Sundays for wisdom dialogue, same time, 3 to 5 p.m. You can find my schedule on my website, along with a lot of other things on my website, hopejohnson.org. So check that out. And also, this is funded by donations, your generous donations. So if you feel to donate or send uh set up a regular monthly donation, you can do that right on my website, hopejohnson.org. I also take any kind of other donations uh like that can help me with technical stuff if anyone's interested in that. Thank you so much. I love you until next time. Mahalo, aloha, and a hoo-e-ho.

SPEAKER_00 1:52:53

Woo! Yay.