Library of Christ Mind Teachings
ACIM Original Edition
Hang on a sec…
Can what has no beginning really end? The world will end in an illusion,
as it began. Yet will its ending be an illusion of mercy. The illusion
of forgiveness, complete, excluding no one, limitless in gentleness,
will cover it, hiding all evil, concealing all sin, and ending guilt
forever. So ends the world that guilt had made, for now it has no
purpose and is gone. The father of illusions is the belief that they
have a purpose; that they serve a need or gratify a want. Perceived as
purposeless, they are no longer seen. Their uselessness is recognized,
and they are gone. How but in this way are all illusions ended? They
have been brought to truth, and truth saw them not. It merely overlooked
the meaningless.
2 Until forgiveness is complete, the world does have a
purpose. It becomes the home in which forgiveness is born and where it
grows and becomes stronger and more all embracing. Here is it nourished,
for here it is needed. A gentle Savior, born where sin was made and
guilt seemed real. Here is His home, for here there is need of Him
indeed. He brings the ending of the world with Him. It is His Call God’s
teachers answer, turning to Him in silence to receive His Word. The
world will end when all things in it have been rightly judged by His
judgment. The world will end with the benediction of holiness upon it.
When not one thought of sin remains, the world is over. It will not be
destroyed nor attacked nor even touched. It will merely cease to seem to
be.
3 Certainly this seems to be a long, long while away. “When
not one thought of sin remains” appears to be a long-range goal indeed.
But time stands still and waits on the goals of God’s teachers. Not one
thought of sin will remain the instant any one of them accepts the
Atonement for himself. It is not easier to forgive one sin than to
forgive all of them. The illusion of orders of difficulty is an obstacle
the teacher of God must learn to pass by and leave behind. One sin
perfectly forgiven by one teacher of God can make salvation complete.
Can you understand this? No; it is meaningless to anyone here. Yet it is
the final lesson in which unity is restored. It goes against all the
thinking of the world, but so does Heaven.
4 The world will end when its thought system has been
completely reversed. Until then, bits and pieces of its thinking will
still seem sensible. The final lesson which brings the ending of the
world cannot be grasped by those not yet prepared to leave the world and
go beyond its tiny reach. What, then, is the function of the teacher of
God in this concluding lesson? He need merely learn how to approach it,
to be willing to go in its direction. He need merely trust that, if
God’s Voice tells him it is a lesson he can learn, he can learn it. He
does not judge it either as hard or easy. His Teacher points to it, and
he trusts that He will show him how to learn it.
5 The world will end in joy because it is a place of sorrow.
When joy has come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end
in peace because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the
purpose of the world? The world will end in laughter because it is a
place of tears. Where there is laughter, who can longer weep? And only
complete forgiveness brings all this to bless the world. In blessing it
departs, for it will not end as it began. To turn hell into Heaven is
the function of God’s teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which
Heaven is reflected. And now sit down in true humility and realize that
all God would have you do, you can do. Do not be arrogant and say you
cannot learn His own curriculum. His Word says otherwise. His Will be
done. It cannot be otherwise. And be you thankful it is so.