Library of Christ Mind Teachings
ACIM Original Edition
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The Bible says that you should go with a brother twice as far as he
asks. It certainly does not suggest that you set him back on his
journey. Devotion to a brother cannot set you back either. It can lead
only to mutual progress. The result of genuine devotion is inspiration,
a word which properly understood is the opposite of fatigue. To be
fatigued is to be dis-spirited, but to be inspired is to be in the
spirit. To be egocentric is to be dispirited, but to be Self-centered in
the right sense is to be inspired, or in the Soul. The truly inspired
are enlightened and cannot abide in darkness.
2 You can speak from the Soul or from the ego, precisely as you choose.
If you speak from the Soul, you have chosen “to be still and know that I
am God.” These words are inspired because they come from knowledge. If
you speak from the ego, you are disclaiming knowledge instead of
affirming it and are thus dispiriting yourself. Do not embark on foolish
journeys, because they are indeed in vain. The ego may desire them, but
the Soul cannot embark on them, because it is forever unwilling to
depart from its Foundation.
3 The journey to the cross should be the last foolish journey for every
mind. Do not dwell upon it, but dismiss it as accomplished. If you can
accept it as your own last foolish journey, you are also free to join my
resurrection. Human living has indeed been needlessly wasted in a
repetition compulsion. It reenacts the separation, the loss of power,
the foolish journey of the ego in an attempt at reparation, and finally
the crucifixion of the body or death.
4 Repetition compulsions can be endless unless they are given up by an
act of will. Do not make the pathetic human error of “clinging to the
old rugged cross.” The only message of the crucifixion was that we can
overcome the cross. Unless you do so, you are free to crucify yourself
as often as you choose. But this is not the Gospel I intended to offer
you. We have another journey to undertake, and if you will read these
lessons carefully, they will help to prepare you to undertake it.