Q: In Kenneth Wapnicks book Forgiveness & Jesus, he says on page xv in the Preface: Jesus and the Holy Spirit do not operate in the world, and certainly do not send people as if they were operating a giant chess board, moving us around according to the evolution of the plan of salvation. However, the manual for teachers of “A Course in Miracles” says: There are no accidents in salvation. Those who are to meet will meet, because together they have the potential for a holy relationship (M.3.1:6,7); and then later it says, Remember that no one is where he is by accident, and chance plays no part in Gods plan (M.9.1:3). This indicates that meeting certain people is part of Gods plan, and as I have understood the Course, the Holy Spirit is operating in the illusion to help us, just as the Course is made within the framework of the illusion. Meetings are part of Gods plan -- there are no accidents -- so how can this be interpreted? A: There are no accidents because everything has already happened, and we are simply reviewing mentally what has already gone by: The script is written.…we but see the journey from the point at which it ended, looking back on it, imagining we make it once again; reviewing mentally what has gone by (W.pI.158.4:3,5). In The Little Hindrance Jesus tells us: To you who still believe you live in time and know not it is gone, the Holy Spirit still guides you through the infinitely small and senseless maze you still perceive in time, though it has long since gone. You think you live in what is past (T.26.V.4:1,2). So people are in our lives only because that is what our scripts involve. We have no recollection of our having written these scripts (a metaphor, of course), which is part of the ego’s strategy to keep us from remembering that we are decision-making minds. You might wish to consult Kenneth’s “A Vast Illusion: Time According to A Course in Miracles,” which is an in-depth study of this intriguing part of the Course’s theory. We are inclined to view what the Course says from our perspective, which is that the world and linear time are real. And that is why we would think that the Holy Spirit and Jesus actually do things, such as direct us to specific people so that we can learn our lessons of forgiveness. But that could not be, since there is no world, and time is not real, either. It is helpful to review the levels of language in the Course, and why Jesus speaks to us as if our experience in the world and linear time were real. Earlier answers to questions have developed these topics, and we refer you to them for further study: Questions #72 and #116.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 19:45:51 +0000
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