Manual for Teachers: 11. How is Peace Possible in This World?
1. This is a question everyone must ask. Certainly peace seems to be impossible here. Yet the Word of God also promises other things that seem impossible. His Word has promised peace. It has also promised that there is no death, that resurrection must occur, and that rebirth is man's inheritance. The world you see with the ego cannot be the world God loves, and yet His Word assures us that He loves the world. God's Word has promised that peace is possible here, and what He promises can hardly be impossible. But it is true that the world must be looked at differently if His promises are to be accepted. What the world is, is but a fact. You cannot choose what this should be. But you can choose how and with whom/Whom you would see it. Indeed, you must choose this.
2. Again we come to the question of judgment. This time ask yourself whether the ego’s judgment --OR THE WORD OF GOD -- is more likely to be true. For they say different things about the world, and things so opposite that it is pointless to try to reconcile them. God offers the world salvation; the ego’s judgment would condemn it. God says there is no death; the ego’s judgment sees but death as the inevitable end of life. God’s Word assures you that He loves the world; the ego’s judgment says it is unlovable. Who is right? For one is wrong. It must be so.
3. The text explains that the Holy Spirit is the Answer to all problems you have made. These problems are not real, but that is meaningless to those who believe in them. And everyone believes in what he made, for it was made by his believing it. Into this strange and paradoxical situation – one without meaning and devoid of sense, yet out of which no way seems possible – God has sent His Judgment to answer yours that was made with ego. Gently His Judgment substitutes for yours. And through this substitution is the un-understandable made understandable. How is peace possible in this world? In the ego’s judgment it is not possible, and can never be possible. But in the Judgment of God what is reflected here is only peace.
4. Peace is impossible to those who look on war. Peace is inevitable to those who offer peace. How easily, then, is the ego’s judgment of the world escaped! It is not the world that makes peace seem impossible. It is the world you see with the ego that is impossible. Yet God’s Judgment on this distorted world redeemed it and made it fit to welcome peace. And peace descends on it in joyous answer. Peace now belongs here, because a Thought of God has entered. What else but a Thought of God turns hell to Heaven merely by being what it is? The earth bows down before its gracious Presence, and leans down in answer, to raise it up again. Now the question is different. It is no longer, “Can peace be possible in this world?” but rather, “Is it not impossible that peace be absent here?”
We have been told that we can choose peace or pain. Now we are being told that we can choose the ego’s judgment of the world – or God’s. And in this message, Jesus tells us how to choose to have peace. He tells us that to have peace, we must offer peace. To give is to receive.
Once again, we learn to relinquish the ego’s judgment that sees distortions and calls for war. We must allow judgment to occur by Him through us and not by us. His judgment brings ONLY PEACE! AMEN and HALLELUJAH!
MANUAL FOR TEACHERS
11. HOW IS PEACE POSSIBLE IN THIS WORLD?
1. God’s Word has promised that peace is possible here, and what He promises can hardly be impossible. Yet it is true that the world must be looked at differently to see peace. To the ego, war and/or conflict appears behind every bush. Yet to God, only peace is reflected here. One must let the Holy Spirit judge the world and not the ego. See behind the darkness to the light.
2. Most significant is when Jesus says that the world we see is NOT the world God loves. So there must be another way of looking at the world if this is so. God has promised that peace is not only possible here, but IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT PEACE BE ABSENT.
3. Peace cannot be seen if you are looking on war. You therefore must be WILLING to see the world differently, to ignore the “garish obviousness of war and conflict” and see what is behind it to the light of truth. God has promised many things that do not appear to us as true YET, but they are. Among these are the ideas of no death, no sickness, only perfect happiness, and a new life. If His promises are to be accepted, then we must allow the Holy Spirit to show us His Way of seeing the world. We must see the world through the idea of forgiveness, knowing that what we see with the body’s eyes is unreal and is to be discarded in favor of Christ’s vision.
4. We are willing to be shown; but are we willing to follow Him out of the ego’s grip and into the flow of God’s grace? The answer is in your heart, which in truth is the Heart of God. Look closely there for His Answer.
5. What, pray tell, is blocking the truth of God from our sight? It is JUDGMENT, Son of God. Without judgment we would see only what God sees, and we would only be able to bless each other and not to condemn. We must recognize that there is only one judgment that will serve us in this illusion:
“God Son is guiltless and sin does not exist.” (M-10.2:9)
With this wisdom constantly in your mind, there can be no conflict in knowing what is true, and what is false. Judge not because you cannot judge. Only God can judge, and His judgment is this:
“My Son is pure and holy as Myself.”
“How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we.
6. Offer peace and it will rise up to meet you. Like attracts like. Let His judgment see through you, instead of the ego seeing for you. Like happiness, it is all a matter of choice. Therefore, see what you want to see instead of what the ego would have you see. IS peace your choice? Your sight will tell you what you have offered, and what you have chosen.
7. As you ask for God’s Word to be made manifest in your life, the Holy Spirit will bring many teachings to you to help you understand It. And understanding brings appreciation. Appreciation brings love. And now we have a glimpse, if not more, of what Christ’s vision is all about.
8. See truly, with spirit, and you will see either love or a call for love, peace or a call for peace. And you will know how to respond (Love is The Answer). Ask for peace, offer peace, and experience how quickly His judgment brings ONLY PEACE.
Is peace possible here? Oh, yes, Son of God! Oh, yes!