 We continue with the Course in Miracles, Manual for Teachers. Number 27. What is Death? Death is the central dream from which all illusions stem. Is it not madness to think of life as being born, aging, losing vitality, and dying in the end? We have asked this question before, but now we need to consider it more carefully. It is the one fixed, unchangeable belief of the world that all things in it are born only to die. This is regarded as the way of nature, not to be raised a question, but to be accepted as the natural law of life. The cyclical, the changing and unsure, the undependable and the unsteady, waxing and waning in a certain way upon a certain path. All this is taken as the will of God. And no one asks if a benign creator could will this. In this perception of the universe, as God created it, it would be impossible to think of Him as loving. For who has decreed that all things pass away, ending in dust and disappointment and despair, can but be feared? He holds your little life in his hand but by a thread, ready to break it off without regret or care, perhaps today. Or if he waits, yet is the ending certain. Who loves such a God knows not of love because he has denied that life is real. Death has become life's symbol. His world is now a battleground where contradiction reigns and opposites make endless war. Where there is death is peace impossible. Death is the symbol of the fear of God. His love is blotted out in the idea which holds it from awareness like a shield held up to obscure the sun. The grimness of the symbol is enough to show it cannot coexist with God. It holds an image of the Son of God in which he is, quote, laid to rest in devastation's arms where worms wait to greet him and to last a little while by his destruction. Yet the worms as well are doomed to be destroyed as certainly and so do all things live because of death. Devouring is nature's law of life. God is insane and fear alone is real. The curious belief that there is part of dying things that may go on apart from what will die does not proclaim a loving God nor reestablish any grounds for trust. If death is real for anything, there is no life. Death denies life. But if there is reality in life, death is denied. No compromise in this is possible. There is either a God of fear or one of love. The world attempts a thousand compromises and will attempt a thousand more. Not one can be acceptable to God's teachers because not one could be acceptable to God. He did not make death because he did not make fear. Both are equally meaningless to him. The quote, reality of death is firmly rooted in the belief that God's son is a body. And if God created bodies, death would indeed be real. But God would not be loving. There is no point at which the contrast between the perception of the real world and that of the world of illusions becomes more sharply evident. Death is indeed the death of God if he is love. And now his own creation must stand in fear of him. He is not father but destroyer. He is not creator but avenger. Terrible his thoughts and fearful his image to look on his creations is to die. And the last to be overcome will be death. Of course without the idea of death there is no world. All dreams will end with this one. This is salvation's final goal, the end of all illusions. And in death are all illusions born. What can be born of death and still have life? But what is born of God and still can die? The inconsistencies, the compromises and the rituals the world fosters in its vain attempts to cling to death and yet to think love real are mindless magic, ineffectual and meaningless. God is and in him all created things must be eternal. Do you not see that otherwise he has an opposite and fear would be as real as love? Teacher of God, your one assignment could be stated thus except no compromise in which death plays a part. Do not believe in cruelty or let attack conceal the truth from you. What seems to die has been but misperceived and carried to illusion. Now it becomes your task to let the illusion be carried to the truth. Be steadfast but in this. Be not deceived by the quote reality of any changing form. Truth neither moves nor wavers nor sinks down to death and disillusion. And what is the end of death? Nothing but this. The realization that the Son of God is guiltless now and forever. Nothing but this. But do not let yourself forget it is not less than this. What is the resurrection? Very simply, the resurrection is the overcoming or surmounting of death. It is a reawakening or rebirth. A change of mind about the meaning of the world. It is the acceptance of the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the world's purpose. The acceptance of the atonement for oneself. It is the end of dreams of misery and the glad awareness of the Holy Spirit's final dream. It is the recognition of the gifts of God. It is the dream in which the body functions perfectly having no function except communication. It is the lesson in which learning ends for it is consummated and surpassed with this. It is the invitation to God to take his final step. It is the relinquishment of all other purposes, all other interests, all other wishes and all other concerns. It is the single desire of the Son for the Father. The resurrection is the denial of death being the assertion of life. Thus is all the thinking of the world reversed entirely. Life is now recognized as salvation and pain and misery of any kind perceived as hell. Love is no longer feared but gladly welcomed. Idols have disappeared and the remembrance of God shines unimpeded across the world. Christ's face is seen in every living thing and nothing is held in darkness apart from the light of forgiveness. There is no sorrow still upon the earth. The joy of heaven has come upon it. Here the curriculum ends. From here on no directions are needed. Vision is wholly corrected and all mistakes undone. Attack is meaningless and peace has come. The goal of the curriculum has been achieved. Thoughts turn to heaven and away from hell. All longings are satisfied for what remains unanswered or incomplete. The last illusion spreads across the world forgiving all things and replacing all attack. The whole reversal is accomplished. Nothing is left to contradict the Word of God. There is no opposition to the truth and now the truth can come at last. How quickly will it come as it is asked to enter and envelop such a world. All living hearts are tranquil with a stir of deep anticipation for the time of everlasting things is now at hand. There is no death. The Son of God is free and in this freedom is the end of fear. No hidden places now remain on earth to shelter such illusions, dreams of fear and misperceptions of the universe. All things are seen in light and in the light their purpose is transformed and understood. And we God's children rise up from the dust and look upon our perfect sinlessness. The song of heaven sounds around the world as it is lifted up and brought to truth. Now there are no distinctions. Differences have disappeared and love looks on itself. What further sight is needed? What remains that vision could accomplish? We have seen the face of Christ, His sinlessness, His love behind all forms, beyond all purposes. Holy are we because His holiness has set us free indeed and we accept His holiness as ours as it is. As God created us so will we be forever and forever and we wish for nothing but His will to be our own. Illusions of another will are lost, for unity of purpose has been found. These things await us all, but we are not prepared as yet to welcome them with joy. As long as any mind remains possessed of evil dreams, the thought of hell is real. God's teachers have the goal of awakening the minds of those asleep and seeing there the vision of Christ's face to take the place of what they dream. The thought of murder is replaced with blessing. Judgment is laid by and given Him whose function judgment is. And in His final judgment is restored the truth about the Holy Son of God. He is redeemed for He has heard God's word and understood its meaning. He is free because He let God's voice proclaim the truth and all He sought before to crucify are resurrected with Him by His side as He prepares with them to meet His God. As for the rest? This manual is not intended to answer all questions that both teacher and pupil may raise. In fact, it covers only a few of the more obvious ones in terms of a brief summary of some of the major concepts in the text and workbook. It is not a substitute for either, but merely a supplement. While it is called a manual for teachers, it must be remembered that only time divides teacher and pupil so that the difference is temporary by definition. In some cases it may be helpful for the pupil to read the manual first. Others might do better to begin with the workbook. Still others may need to start at the more abstract level of the text. Which is for which? Who would profit more from prayers alone? Who needs but a smile being as yet unready for more? No one should attempt to answer these questions alone. Surely no teacher of God has come this far without realizing that. The curriculum is highly individualized and all aspects are under the Holy Spirit's particular care and guidance. Ask and He will answer. The responsibility is His and He alone is fit to assume it. To do so is His function. To refer the questions to Him is yours. Would you want to be responsible for decisions about which you understand so little? Be glad you have a teacher who cannot make a mistake. His answers are always right. Would you say that of yours? There is another advantage and a very important one in referring decisions to the Holy Spirit with increasing frequency. Perhaps you have not thought of this aspect, but its centrality is so obvious. To follow the Holy Spirit's guidance is to let yourself be absolved of guilt. It is the essence of the Atonement. It is the core of the curriculum. To imagine usurping of functions not your own is the basis of fear. The whole world you see reflects the illusion that you have done so, making fear inevitable. To return the function to the one whom it belongs is thus the escape from fear. And it is this that lets the memory of love return to you. Do not then think that following the Holy Spirit's guidance is necessary merely because of your own inadequacies. It is the way out of hell for you. Here again is the paradox often referred to in the Course. To say of myself I can do nothing is to gain all power. And yet it is but a seeming paradox. As God created you, you have all power. The image you made of yourself has none. The Holy Spirit knows the truth about you. The image you made does not. Yet despite its obvious and complete ignorance, this image assumes it knows all things because you have given that belief to it. Such is your teaching and the teaching of the world that was made to uphold it. But the teacher who knows the truth has not forgotten it. His decisions bring benefit to all, being wholly devoid of attack and therefore incapable of arousing guilt. Who assumes the power that he does not possess is deceiving himself. Yet to accept the power given him by God is but to acknowledge his Creator and accept his gifts. And his gifts have no limit. To ask the Holy Spirit to decide for you is simply to accept your true inheritance. Does this mean that you cannot say anything without consulting him? No, indeed. That would hardly be practical. And it is practical with which this Course is most concerned. If you have made it a habit to ask for help when and where you can, you can be confident that wisdom will be given you and you will be blessed. Prepare for this each morning. Remember God when you can throughout the day as the Holy Spirit's help when it is feasible to do so. And thank him for his guidance at night. And your confidence will be well founded indeed. Never forget that the Holy Spirit does not depend on your words. He understands the request of your heart and answers them. Remember that while attack remains attractive to you, he will respond with evil hardly. For God has given him the power to translate your prayers of the heart into his language. He understands that attack is a call for help. And he responds with help accordingly. God would be cruel if he let your words replace his own. A loving Father does not let his child harm himself or choose his own destruction. He may ask for injury, but his Father will protect him still. And how much more than this does your Father love His Son? Remember, you are His completion and His love. Remember your weakness is His strength. But do not read this hastily or wrongly. If His strength is in you, what you perceive as your weakness is but illusion. And He has given you the means to prove it so. Ask all things of His teacher and all things are given you. Not in the future, but immediately, now. God does not wait for waiting implies time and He is timeless. Forget your foolish images, your sense of frailty and your fear of harm, your dreams of danger and selected wrongs. God knows but His Son. And as He was created, so He is. In confidence, I place you in His hands and I give thanks for you that this is so. And now, in all your doings, be you blessed. God turns to you for help to save the world. Teacher of God, His thanks, He offers you. And all the world stands silent in the grace you bring from Him. You are the Son He loves and it is given you to be the means through which His voice is heard around the world, to close all things of time, to end the sight of all things visible and to undo all things that change. Through you is ushered in a world unseen, unheard yet truly there. Holy are you and in your light the world reflects your holiness. For you are not alone and friendless. I give thanks for you and join you your efforts on behalf of God. Knowing they are on my behalf as well. And for all those who walk to God with me. Amen.