Faith and Belief and Vision

Here is tremendous and helpful spiritual advice:
 Do nothing.
Say nothing.
Think nothing.
Live nothing.
VH

Forget not that the motivation for this course is the attainment and the KEEPING of the state of peace. Given this state, the mind is quiet, and the condition in which God is remembered is attained. (CH 24,1.1-1.2)

Faith and belief and vision are the means by which the goal of holiness is reached.

 Through them, the Holy Spirit leads you to the real world, and away from all illusions where your faith was laid. This is His direction, the only one He ever sees. And, when you wander, He reminds you there IS but one. His faith and His belief and vision, are all for you. And, when you have accepted them completely, instead of yours, you will have need of them no longer. For faith and vision and belief are meaningful only BEFORE the state of certainty is reached. In Heaven they are unknown. Yet Heaven is reached through them. (Ch 21, III, 4.1-4..9)

There is NO problem, in ANY situation, that faith will not solve. There is no SHIFT, in any ASPECT of the problem, but will make SOLUTION IMPOSSIBLE. For if you shift PART of a problem elsewhere, the meaning of the problem MUST be lost, and the SOLUTION to the problem is INHERENT in its meaning. Is it not possible that ALL your problems HAVE BEEN solved, but you have removed YOURSELF from the solution? Yet faith MUST be where something has BEEN done, and where you SEE it done. A situation is a relationship, being the joining of thoughts. If problems are perceived, it is because the thoughts are judged to be IN CONFLICT. But if the goal is TRUTH, this is impossible. Some idea of bodies MUST have entered, for minds can NOT attack. The thought of bodies IS a sign of faithlessness, for bodies CANNOT solve anything. (Ch 17, VII, 2.1-3.5)

The holy instant is the shining example, the clear and unequivocal demonstration of the meaning of EVERY relationship, and EVERY situation SEEN AS A WHOLE. Faith has ACCEPTED every ASPECT of the situation, and faithlessness has not forced ANY exclusion on it. It is a situation of perfect peace, simply because YOU have LET IT BE WHAT IT IS. This simple courtesy is all the Holy Spirit asks of you. Let Truth be what it is. Do not INTRUDE upon it, do not ATTACK it, do NOT interrupt its coming. Let it encompass EVERY situation, and bring you peace. Not even faith is asked of you, for Truth asks nothing. Let it enter, and IT will call forth, and SECURE for you, the faith you need for peace. … And THEN the power of the Holy Spirit's purpose is free for use INSTEAD. This power INSTANTLY transforms ALL situations into one sure and continuous means for ESTABLISHING His purpose, and DEMONSTRATING its reality. What has been DEMONSTRATED has called for faith, and has been GIVEN it. Now it becomes a fact, from which faith can no longer BE withheld. (Ch 17, VIII, 1.4-3.6)

The goal of truth REQUIRES FAITH. Faith is implicit in the acceptance of the Holy Spirit's purpose. AND THIS FAITH IS ALL-INCLUSIVE. Where the goal of truth is set, there faith MUST be. The Holy Spirit sees the situation AS A WHOLE. The goal establishes the fact that EVERYONE involved in it WILL play his part in its accomplishment. THIS IS INEVITABLE. No-one will fail in anything. This SEEMS to ask for faith BEYOND you, and beyond what you can GIVE. But this is so ONLY from the viewpoint of the ego, for the ego believes in "solving" conflicts through FRAGMENTATION, and does NOT perceive the situation as a whole. Therefore, it seeks to split off SEGMENTS of the situation, and deal with them SEPARATELY. For it has faith in separation, NOT in wholeness. Confronted with any ASPECT of the situation which SEEMS to be difficult, the ego will attempt to TAKE THIS ASPECT ELSEWHERE, and resolve it there. And it will SEEM to be successful. Except that this attempt CONFLICTS WITH UNITY, and MUST obscure the goal of truth. And peace will not be experienced, EXCEPT in fantasy. (Ch 17, VI, 6.1-7.3)

Guilt is ALWAYS in your OWN mind, WHICH HAS CONDEMNED ITSELF. … If you would look within, you would see only the Atonement, shining in quiet and in peace upon the altar to your Father. Do not be afraid to look within. … Within you is NOT what you believe is there, and what YOU put your faith in. Within you is the holy sign of perfect faith YOUR FATHER has in you. HE does not value you as you do. He knows Himself, and knows the truth IN YOU. He knows THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE, for He knows not of differences. Can YOU see guilt where God KNOWS there is perfect innocence? You can DENY His knowledge, but you CANNOT change it. Look, then, upon the light He placed within you, and learn that what you feared was there, HAS BEEN replaced with love.(CH13,IX,6.7-5.13)

A better and far more helpful way to think of miracles is this: You do NOT understand them, either in part or whole. Yet you have DONE them. Therefore, your understanding CANNOT be necessary. Yet it is still impossible to accomplish what you do not understand. And so there must be Something IN you that does understand. (Ch 16,II,2.4-2.8)

We have repeated how little is asked of you to learn this course. It is the same small willingness you need to have your whole relationship transformed to joy. The little gift you offer to the Holy Spirit for which He gives you everything. The very little, on which salvation rests. The tiny change of mind by which the crucifixion is changed to Resurrection. And, being true, it is so simple that it cannot fail to be completely understood. Rejected yes, but NOT ambiguous. And if you choose against it now, it will not be because it is obscure, but rather that this little cost seemed, in your judgment, to be too much to pay for peace.
This is the only thing that you need do for vision, happiness, release from pain, and the complete escape from sin, all to be given you. Say only this, but mean it with no reservations, for here the power of salvation lies:
"I AM responsible for what I see.
I CHOSE the feelings I experience, and I DECIDED ON the goal I would achieve.
And everything that SEEMS to happen TO me, I ASKED FOR and received as I had asked." (CH 21,II,1.1-2.5)

To learn this course requires willingness to question EVERY value that you hold. … NO belief is neutral; every one has power to dictate each decision you make. For a decision is a CONCLUSION, based on EVERYTHING that you believe. It is the OUTCOME of belief, and follows it as surely as does suffering follow guilt, and freedom sinlessness. There IS no substitute for peace. What God creates has NO alternative.(CH 24,I,2.1-2.8)

He who does not find

The way of Meditation cannot reach

Emancipation and enlightenment.

But thou wilt find the way of Holy Thought;

With mind made calm and steadfast, thou will see

The Permanent amid the mutable,
The Truth eternal in the things that change:
Thou wilt behold the Perfect Law: Cosmos
From Chaos rises when the conquered self
Lies underneath man’s heel: Love be thy strength;
Look on the passion-tortured multitudes,
And have compassion on them; know their pain
By thy long sorrow ended. Thou wilt come
To perfect peace, and so wilt bless the world,
Leading unto the High and Holy Way
The feet of them that seek.—And now I go
To my Abode; go thou unto thy work.

James
 Allen