We gave the ego, which we made-up, the mind. We placed our mind at the disposal of a tyrant that we made. If we are still seemingly here in the illusion, the ego still has control of the mind and is using it to attack truth. The machinations of the world and the body are destined to obey the ego, and the laws it made, until such time as we learn that none of this is real. We made it real by believing it was. So in order to transcend the illusion, we must examine all of our beliefs with the Holy Spirit. We must let the ego’s logic be undone by listening to the Holy Spirit’s sense, understanding and reason. He will persuade us to give up all of our miscreations that resulted from the ego’s capricious thought system.

Just as we will ultimately experience that the Holy Spirit’s Voice as our own, the ego’s voice is also our own. We made it and then promptly forgot that we did. So the ego’s thought system is really our own that we then forgot we had constructed. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to guide us. We have almost entirely switched over to the ego thought system and made a world which we are busily participating in as if it were real. We have no idea that we have fallen victim to our own makings.

That is why sickness is such a great opportunity. Presently the ego has the reins. It is making up all sorts of sicknesses, in the dream, and daring us not to experience them as real. The great deceiver is up to great deceptions. The body cannot be sick. I take the Course at its word. But we, as mind, can believe it can, thus making it appear as so. The Course also tells us that at any second if we, as mind, stop valuing sickness, it would disappear. The correction of the idea of sickness happens at the belief level which is in the mind.

The correction of the idea of sickness, for once and forever, is possible. But it is a convoluted and twisted thought system that makes the deception seem very real. It is draped in fear and death. To stand in the face of it and not make it real is well, Jesus like. He got there. So can we. And we do not have to do the crucifixion and death part. We can simply learn to stop participating in the rituals of sickness. We can do this for ourselves, our brothers and the world.

How do we do such a thing? First and foremost we must stand with the Holy Spirit in faith that sickness is an ego deception and is not real. We will not believe our physical eyes no matter what they seem to be witnessing to. Then we will interact with the fantasy of sickness at the direction of the Holy Spirit. We will not allow the ego to use the deception of sickness to make the seeming separation, our seeming aloneness, our seeming self-reliance or our seeming vulnerability seem real. We will use the deception of sickness to not make it real.

We can, at the direction of the Holy Spirit, give the appearance of sickness a new purpose. There will come a time, maybe this “lifetime” or maybe “lifetimes” from now, where the ego can no longer use the body for the purpose of sickness and the only purpose the body will be used for is communication.

In the meantime, we can stand in faith when we see or experience sickness. We have faith that it is a deception of the wrong-mind. We have faith that it is not real. We have faith that it is a result of wrong-minded thinking. We have faith that it will end one way or the other and we do not care. We are interested in ending the ego’s delusion of sickness forever by getting that it is not real and transcending it. We do this for ourselves, our brothers and the world.

What does that look like in the world? The Holy Spirit will use sickness to free our mind. The ego uses it to maintain the imprisonment. Ask the Holy Spirit what to do, say and think. He may well instruct us to go to the doctor. He may well instruct us not to. And anything in between. His goal is not to cure the sickness. His goal is to end our belief in sickness.

We can give our mind, our world and its stories, our body and our ego (or personality self) to the Holy Spirit where they can be dedicated to truth. When this happens, we no longer are concerned with the outcome of this particular lifetime’s stories. We have faith that all lifetimes are either consecrated to God or are used for the making real of the separation from Him. Until we place everything we have made at the disposal of true Authority, we will remain on the ego treadmill endlessly making real all miscreations including sickness.

The concern or preference for particular outcomes in this particular story is just another name for grievances. The preference itself is not really the problem. It is the making it real first, which is implicate in the preference, which keeps the world going.

 

The dedication of all things to the Holy Spirit’s purpose and our trusting in Him to direct us in all things is described in the Course at the end of the lessons. The lessons are just a beginning, not an end. Now it is time to retire from the world, to seek reality instead.

“No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own.

And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end.” (W-ep.3:1–4:6)

 

I call this going live with the Holy Spirit. And yes, in my experience, He does tell you exactly what to do, say and think in the dream. A supernatural quality of existence, a certainty and a peace come with this total dedication to truth and unconcern with outcome. But there also come the lashings and gnashing of the ego that show up in all sorts of “fearful” forms and the ever present temptation to “make it real.” With the Holy Spirit there is a traveling up of levels of awareness as lessons are learned. The fruits acquired are not found in form but in sense, understanding and reason. This moving up of levels is then followed by more ego lashings and gnashings, then followed by more fruit.

 

And such is the path, not of the hero of the dream, but of the faceless, nameless servant of the Spirit in humble, silent service to his brothers and the world.