How can anything as wonderful as nature not come from God? Q #904: As I understand it, A Course in Miracles teaches that our ego created the world and it is all just an illusion. I have always seen nature and the work of creation as the biggest proof of Gods existence! When I look at all the beauty in nature, the intricacy, the multitude, and the magnitude -- from the vastness of space to the unbelievable complexity of DNA -- it seems only God could have created something like this! How can I believe that the human mind is capable of conceiving such greatness? A: There are really two parts to your question; how could the mind have made the world, and how could God not have created it? The Bible and our western religions define God as the creator of the world. But A Course in Miracles tells us that the Bibles God is a product of the ego. It seeks to help us remember that the true God is a God of eternal, perfect, changeless love. The Course teaches that this real God could not possibly have created anything that doesnt share his quality of being eternal and changeless (C.4.1) . Since everything in this physical universe (even that which seems eternal to us, such as the stars) will eventually perish, nothing on the level of form could possibly come from God. From the Course perspective, qualities such as intricacy, multitude, magnitude, vastness, and even physical beauty, have nothing to do with God. Anything with these qualities then, must have come from another source. As you stated, the Course tells us that we made the world up (T.20.VIII.7:3,4,5). But the Course isnt teaching that the world was conceived by the human mind. The Courses view of the human or individual mind (which we generally think of as being controlled by the brain) is that it, like the physical world, is entirely illusory (C.1.4:1) -- its just another part of the dream. Within the dream, we are all split minds, containing the thought systems of both the ego and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we can experience the world as a symbol of either thought system. Thus the beauty of nature can serve to help us remember the Holy Spirits beautiful love in our mind. The mind that made up the world however, is outside of time and space. Its the one mind of the Son of God, which appeared to fall asleep and dream that it was separate from its source. Obviously, this is a mind that none of us who think were bodies can begin to comprehend. From within this dream of physical, individual human existence, none of this makes any sense. But think of the dreams you have at night. While youre having them, they seem absolutely real. Only after awakening can you look back and know that they were made up. Understanding this phenomenon, the Course doesnt require us to begin by accepting or understanding that the world is our dream. Indeed, if we could do that, we would be awake and wouldnt need the Course. Instead we are merely asked to consider that maybe we are wrong about the world and how we got here. To help us develop the willingness to do that, the Course exposes our motivation for choosing this dream of separation and the pain inherent in doing so. facimoutreach.org/qa/questions/questions180.htm#Q904
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 12:40:15 +0000
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