The opinions here are mine and not endorsed by any other person, foundation, company or corporation. Quoted information is copyrighted by The Foundation for A Course in Miracles. Quotes about the mighty forces are used with permission. In reading what Jesus dictated, it is helpful to begin by asking him to help you both be of one mind as you read.
This is the first post in a series. Collectively the set of posts comprise a guidebook
A Guidebook for the prodigal son's return to life
An Often Fatal Illness
In late 1977 dictation of The Song of Prayer was complete. There on page 17 Jesus spoke about death, saying:
“... 8 Yet there is a kind of seeming death that has a different source. 9 It does not come because of hurtful thoughts and raging anger at the universe. 10 It merely signifies the end has come for usefulness of body functioning. 11 And so it is discarded as a choice, as one lays by a garment now outworn.
3 1 We call it death, but it is liberty. 2 It does not come in forms that seem to be thrust down in pain upon unwilling flesh, but as a gentle welcome to release. 3 If there has been true healing, this can be the form in which death comes when it is time to rest a while from labor gladly done and gladly ended ...”
On 1/14/78, near the end of her life, Jesus dictated a personal message to Helen. Her biographer reports that she was quite sick in 1980, treated for pancreatic cancer, and died in early February 1981. This personal message comes just a few months after The Song of Prayer scribing is completed and opens with a reference to death. The message is partially described on pages 403 and 404 of her biography and presented out of temporal sequence (printed within The Father's Love segment) on pages 127 and 128 of the poetry book, The Gifts of God.
The personal message is noted here because it helps our understanding of Jesus' teaching. Some of the message content seems not widely applicable (in 1975 Helen wrote that she was agnostic, perhaps uncommon among miracles studies students).
Here is the personal message Jesus dictated on 1/14:
“The night is dark but it will have an end. Be comforted with this: No one I send to help you reach the goal will fail to stand beside you till your kingdom is secure. The promises of God are given you. What could be surer? There is help indeed for one so near to heaven. There is change in everything but this; whom He has called and who has answered Him as you have done can rest in peace upon His loving Arm, and trust His gratitude and thankful Heart to beat for yours when yours appears to fail.
Do not imagine he will leave His child who heard His Voice and listened to His word. Remember this: the thanks of God are yours and will not leave you comfortless for long. You still are needed in the world to hear His Voice and share His messages of love with those who call in sorrow. Could it be that you will fail to find Him, when His need for you becomes as great as yours for Him. You need not fear that you will suffer loss, nor that He will abandon you who gave comfort to His son. Receive the gift you gave to God and He would give to you.
Trust Him Whose Voice you heard, and do not think He does not hear your frightened voice that calls in whispered agony. You will be raised from terror to the shining peace of God. The way seems thorny and beset with grief yet it is certain as the Love of God which cannot fail. It holds you up, and so you cannot fail because it shines in you. Faith will be yours because His faith in you is limitless. Do not despair of Him Who loves you with an everlasting love; who knows your need and watches over you in everything was ceaseless vigilance
Do not forget His thanks, and understand the gratitude of God goes far beyond all things the world can offer, for His gifts will last forever in His heart and ours. Be thankful for His love and for His care, for in this world it has been given few to give a gift to God as you have done. Yet only few are needed. They suffice for all the rest, and they give thanks to you along with their Creator and with yours. He is not careless of the gifts He gives, nor are His promises in vain. Be sure a mother does not fail the son she loves, nor will a father cast away His child.”
Part of the function of this personal message is to diminish resistance, i. e. to help offset dissociation of miracles teachings. Jesus mentions trust or faith three times. Trust was also mentioned a few months earlier where on page 13 of The Song of Prayer Jesus said:
“1 1 Forgiveness-for-salvation has one form, and only one. 2 It does not ask for proof of innocence, nor pay of any kind. 3 It does not argue, nor evaluate the errors that it wants to overlook. 4 It does not offer gifts in treachery, nor promise freedom while it asks for death. 5 Would God deceive you? 6 He but asks for trust and willingness to learn how to be free. 7 He gives His Teacher to whoever asks, and seeks to understand the Will of God. 8 His readiness to give lies far beyond your understanding and your simple grasp. 9 Yet He has willed you learn the way to Him, and in His willing there is certainty.”
In the personal message, Jesus is nurturing the development of trust to allow the stepping aside and letting go mentioned a few months earlier in The Song of Prayer (page 2 paragraph 5) when he said:
“Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go; a quiet time of listening and loving.”
The 2ond paragraph in the 1/14/78 message says
“Remember this: the thanks of God are yours and will not leave you comfortless for long.”
A similar assurance was given a few years earlier when Jesus spoke of temptation and trials (Section VIII at the end of the Text) saying:
“ 2 In every difficulty, all distress, and each perplexity Christ calls to you and gently says, "My brother, choose again." 3 He would not leave one source of pain unhealed, nor any image left to veil the truth. 4 He would remove all misery from you whom God created altar unto joy. 5 He would not leave you comfortless, alone in dreams of hell, but would release your mind from everything that hides His face from you. 6 His holiness is yours because He is the only Power that is real in you. “
Assurance was given again in 1977 when Jesus spoke of Christ's role in forgiveness (page 15 in The Song of Prayer ):
“ 5 He will not leave you comfortless, nor fail to send
His angels down to answer you in His Own Name. “
The first and last paragraphs of the personal message help with an abandonment issue. This 1/14/78 message emphasizes a thankful attitude and gratitude. It has a reassuring tone and defines a role for her in the twilight of their collaboration.His angels down to answer you in His Own Name. “
“You are still needed in the world, to hear His voice and share
His messages of love with those who call in sorrow.”