QUESTION: DID GOD MAKE THE WORLD?
ANSWER: There is a lot of fear around this question which is quite often asked by Course in Miracles students especially after reading these ideas in the Course:
"The world as you perceive it cannot have been created by the Father." ACIM OrEd.Tx.10.69
"The world was made as an attack on God." ACIM OrEd.Mn.24.2
"God did not make the body because it is destructible and therefore not
of the Kingdom. The body is the symbol of what you think you are. It is clearly a separation device and therefore does not exist."ACIM OrEd.Tx.6.62
"Nothing that God knows not exists." ACIM OrEd.Tx.30.43
When we address the question "Did God Make the World?" we may want to ask, what is meant by "GOD" and the "WORLD".
Are we thinking that GOD is a Divine BEING, separate from us, all powerful and mighty. Or are we thinking that GOD is but LOVE, all encompassing , unlimited and timeless.
And are we thinking that the WORLD is this three dimensional world, solid and real beyond a shadow of a doubt? Or are we thinking that the WORLD is merely the misperception of the REAL WORLD.
Since FEAR is operating here perhaps we should first take a good look at our FEARS. Aren't they always attached to who we believe we are and what we believe our world is?
Our fears rush in when there's a threat of loss: Loss of what we identify with ~ our minds, our egos, our bodies, our professions, our possessions, our activities, or our construct of what this world is.
The first fearful statement at the top of this article was:
"The world as you perceive it cannot have been created by the Father..." ACIM OrEd.Tx.10.69
This thought is fearful since it perpetuates our sense of separation. How could our Father not have created that which we cherish as real and as our own. And yet there is the operative word 'perceive'. He is telling us "The world as YOU perceive it..."
And when we read on, we find there is hope ~
"The world as you perceive it cannot have been created by the Father, for the world is not as you see it. God created only the eternal, and everything you see is perishable. Therefore, there must be another world which you do not see." ACIM OrEd.Tx.10.69
One of our Lessons 129 is thus, "Beyond this world there is a world I want" and in this lesson we find this Guidance:
"God will be there. For you have called upon the great unfailing Power Who will take this giant step with you in gratitude. Nor will you fail to see His thanks expressed in tangible perception and in truth. You will not doubt what you will look upon. For though it is perception, it is not the kind of seeing that your eyes alone have ever seen before." ACIM OrEd.WkBk.130.10
We cherish what we have made since we think it is the truth about who we are and what is real. And we'll resist any and all attempt to take these away from us until the pain of holding on is too great to bear. Just as the scribe and co-scribe of A Course in Miracles Helen Schucman and William Thetford came to the conclusion that there must be another way, we eventually come to open our hearts to a 'shift in perception', to a Miracle.
The next phrase at the beginning of this Article was:
"The world was made as an attack on God." ACIM OrEd.WkBk.SpTp241.1-5
When we read this our fear might ask...