OrEd-T-23.5-The Fear of Life

47. What is not loving must be attack. What is not love is murder. Every illusion is an assault on the truth, and every illusion does violence to the idea of love, for the illusion seems to be equal to the truth. God remains the only place of safety, for there is no attack in Him. And no form of illusion stalks Heaven, for Heaven is wholly true. No differences enter there, and what is all the same cannot conflict. I am not asked to fight against my wish to murder. But I am asked to realize, that concealed in the form my wish takes, is the same intent. And it is this intent I fear, and not the form. The fear of God is not the fear of death, but the fear of life.

48. Murder and love are incompatible. Yet if both are true, then they must be the same as one another. To those who see God's Son as a body, love and murder will both seem to be true. However, nothing can be different, yet equal to the truth. It is not the body that is the Son's Creator. A body cannot be extended to hold the universe. A body cannot also be what it creates. And a body cannot offer to its creations all that it is, without suffering loss. And what is lifeless cannot be the Son of Life.

49. Creation is the means for God's extension, and Gods creation must be the Son's creation as well. What is the same has the same function. To create is God's function, and God gave the function to create to His Son, not to a body. Either the Father and the Son are murderers or neither is. Life, creating like itself, does not make death. It is not sinful to believe the Son's function is murder, but it is insanity.

50. The light of our relationship is like the love of God. Yet, our relationship cannot carry out the holy function that God gave to His Son. Our forgiveness of one another is not complete, and so the healing miracles cannot be extended to all creation. Each form of attack / murder that still attracts us, and we do not recognize it for what it is, limits our power to extend love to all. Yet, the Holy Spirit can increase our little gifts, making them mighty. Now, our purpose is to overlook the battleground, to realize that murder in any form is not our will. The Holy Spirit knows how our relationship can be raised above the battleground, in it no more.

51. We will be lifted up, and from a higher place look down on the battleground. From there our perspective will be quite different. Here in the midst of battle, it does seem very real. Here we have chosen to be part of the battle, and murder is our choice. Yet, from above, the choice is miracles. And the perspective coming from this choice shows us the battle is not real and easily escaped. Bodies may battle, but the clash of forms is meaningless. We cannot engage in a battle when we perceive it as nothing. And the battle is over when we realize it never began. If murder is not our choice, the truth of miracles must be recognized.

52. I know the signs that come with the temptation to attack, making my mind dark and murderous, even in forms I do not recognize. There is a stab of pain, a twinge of guilt, and above all, the loss of peace. I know these signs. When they occur, I must not leave my place on high, but quickly choose a miracle. God Himself and all the lights of Heaven will gently lean to me and hold me up. For I have chosen to remain with Him, and no illusion can attack the peace of God and His Son together.

53. Only a purpose unifies, and those who share a purpose are of one mind. The body has no purpose and is solitary. Only bodies can attack and murder, and if this is my purpose, then I must be one with bodies. The body stands between God's Son and Heaven, but it has no purpose. I must not see anyone from the battleground. I would be looking on him from nowhere. For there is no reference point where meaning can be given to what I see. This cannot be overcome from within the battle. Only from above, the limits on those in battle are not perceived. The limits are gone.

54. I think of what is given to those who share their Father's purpose, and know it's their purpose! They want for nothing. Sorrow of any kind is inconceivable. Only the light of love is in their awareness, and only love shines on them forever. Love is their past, their present, and their future, always the same, eternally complete, and wholly shared. They know it is impossible that their happiness could change to suffering of any kind. Perhaps, I think I can win something on the battleground. However, it could never offer me the deep quiet love, with perfect, eternal calmness and certainty, that is Heaven.

55. Those with the strength of God in their awareness could never think of battle. They would only lose their perfection. For everything fought for on the battleground is of the body, something the body seems to offer or to own. From the quiet sphere above the battleground the senselessness of conquest is quite apparent. The body is wanted more but offers less. One who knows that he has everything could not value the body's offerings or want the limitation. With the love of God upholding him, each one could find the choice of miracles easy to make.