This is the biblical recounting of Jesus walking on water. This scene takes place right after Jesus had taken five loaves of bread and two fish, multiplied them, and fed thousands.

45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people.

46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.

So Jesus was on the land and the disciples were in the sea in a boat.

48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.

49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

They thought they had seen a ghost.

50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

They thought they were in a great storm They thought their lives were in danger. They were also terrified because they thought they had seen a ghost.

51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

 

52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

(KJV Mark 6:45-52)

Why were they terrified? Because they considered not the miracle of the loaves. They had just come from a supernatural situation where thousands were fed with five loaves of bread and two fish. In the boat, they were so fixated on the natural, even though they had been steeped in the supernatural while journeying with Jesus, in a moment of stress, they believed their physical eyes. They did not turn to the word. They turned to their old perceptions. They turned to their autonomous separated selves. They were tempted to make the storm real and the ghost, and they did. They were at the mercy of their miscreations because they choose to believe in them. Jesus stepped onto the ship and the wind ceased. He didn’t make it real.

Why didn’t they consider the miracle of the loaves? Their hearts were hardened. What is a hardened heart? A hardened heart is a heart that is rebellious towards God. It is also a heart that relates more easily to the natural realm, the illusion and the unreal, than to the supernatural, the spiritual and the real. This reflects the two issues forgiveness addresses. We choose to dissociate or forget the truth/God. This speaks to our unbelief, to our rebellion. And we decide to make real the unreal by believing it. We put all our faith and belief in what our physical eyes tell us. Jesus didn’t.

You do not doubt that the body’s eyes can see. You do not doubt the images they show you are reality. Your faith lies in the darkness, not the light. How can this be reversed? For you it is impossible, but you are not alone in this. (W-91.3:3-7)

You do not seem to doubt the world you see. You do not really question what is shown you through the body’s eyes. Nor do you ask why you believe it, even though you learned a long while since your senses do deceive. That you believe them to the last detail which they report is even stranger, when you pause to recollect how frequently they have been faulty witnesses indeed! Why would you trust them so implicitly? Why but because of underlying doubt, which you would hide with show of certainty? (W-151.2:1-6)

How can you judge? Your judgment rests upon the witness that your senses offer you. Yet witness never falser was than this. But how else do you judge the world you see? You place pathetic faith in what your eyes and ears report. You think your fingers touch reality, and close upon the truth. This is awareness that you understand, and think more real than what is witnessed to by the eternal Voice for God Himself. (W-151.3:1-7)

And when it comes to the supernatural.

You believe that what your physical eyes cannot see does not exist. This leads to a denial of spiritual sight. (T-1.I.22:2-3)

So we are believing and putting our faith in the reality of the illusion. We only believe what we see, forgetting that we are only seeing it because our mind is making images and projecting them out. (That is another story) Simultaneously we are denying the unseen world. We cannot experience the unseen world as long as we are putting our faith and belief in the unreal world. Our faith and belief in it makes it seem real and then our valuing of it makes it doubly hard to undo.

The purpose of the Atonement (an interlocking chain of forgiveness) is to dispel (cause to vanish) illusions. Illusions or miscreations seem to be there because we deny reality, the truth, God and because we choose to believe illusions are real. Forgiveness is a process of denying the denial of truth and God and allowing the Holy Spirit, through reason, to induce (persuade) us to give up our miscreations by realizing that they are not real.

There is a supernatural “existence” available to us. But we must “give up” our faith and belief in the seen world. We must give up our belief in our miscreations. And that is where the fun begins!