A Course in Miracles
Manual for Teachers
Section 14
How Will the World End?
Can what has no beginning really end? The world will end in an illusion, as
it began. Yet will its ending be an illusion of mercy. The illusion of
forgiveness, complete, excluding no one, limitless in gentleness, will cover
it, hiding all evil, concealing all sin and ending guilt forever. So ends the
world that guilt had made, for now it has no purpose and is gone.
The father
of illusions is the belief that they have a purpose; that they serve a need or
gratify a want. Perceived as purposeless, they are no longer seen. Their
uselessness is recognized, and they are gone. How but in this way are all
illusions ended? They have been brought to truth, and truth saw them not. It
merely overlooked the meaningless.
Until forgiveness is complete, the world does have a purpose. It becomes
the home in which forgiveness is born, and where it grows and becomes
stronger and more all-embracing. Here is it nourished, for here it is needed.
A gentle Savior, born where sin was made and guilt seemed real. Here is
His home, for here there is need of Him indeed. He brings the ending of the
world with Him.
It is His Call God’s teachers answer, turning to Him in
silence to receive His Word. The world will end when all things in it have
been rightly judged by His judgment. The world will end with the
benediction of holiness upon it. When not one thought of sin remains, the
world is over. It will not be destroyed nor attacked nor even touched. It will
merely cease to seem to be.
Certainly this seems to be a long, long while away. “When not one thought
of sin remains” appears to be a long-range goal indeed. But time stands still,
and waits on the goal of God’s teachers. Not one thought of sin will remain
the instant any one of them accepts Atonement for himself. It is not easier to
forgive one sin than to forgive all of them. The illusion of orders of
difficulty is an obstacle the teacher of God must learn to pass by and leave
behind. One sin perfectly forgiven by one teacher of God can make
salvation complete. Can you understand this?
No; it is meaningless to
anyone here. Yet it is the final lesson in which unity is restored. It goes
against all the thinking of the world, but so does Heaven.
The world will end when its thought system has been completely reversed.
Until then, bits and pieces of its thinking will still seem sensible.
The final
lesson, which brings the ending of the world, cannot be grasped by those
not yet prepared to leave the world and go beyond its tiny reach. What,
then, is the function of the teacher of God in this concluding lesson? He
need merely learn how to approach it; to be willing to go in its direction. He
need merely trust that, if God’s Voice tells him it is a lesson he can learn, he
can learn it. He does not judge it either as hard or easy. His Teacher points
to it, and he trusts that He will show him how to learn it.
The world will end in joy, because it is a place of sorrow. When joy has
come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end in peace,
because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the purpose of
the world? The world will end in laughter, because it is a place of tears.
Where there is laughter, who can longer weep? And only complete
forgiveness brings all this to bless the world. In blessing it departs, for it
will not end as it began. To turn hell into Heaven is the function of God’s
teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which Heaven is reflected.
And
now sit down in true humility, and realize that all God would have you do
you can do. Do not be arrogant and say you cannot learn His Own
curriculum. His Word says otherwise. His Will be done. It cannot be
otherwise. And be you thankful it is so.
Manual for Teachers
Section 14
How Will the World End?
Can what has no beginning really end? The world will end in an illusion, as
it began. Yet will its ending be an illusion of mercy. The illusion of
forgiveness, complete, excluding no one, limitless in gentleness, will cover
it, hiding all evil, concealing all sin and ending guilt forever. So ends the
world that guilt had made, for now it has no purpose and is gone.
The father
of illusions is the belief that they have a purpose; that they serve a need or
gratify a want. Perceived as purposeless, they are no longer seen. Their
uselessness is recognized, and they are gone. How but in this way are all
illusions ended? They have been brought to truth, and truth saw them not. It
merely overlooked the meaningless.
Until forgiveness is complete, the world does have a purpose. It becomes
the home in which forgiveness is born, and where it grows and becomes
stronger and more all-embracing. Here is it nourished, for here it is needed.
A gentle Savior, born where sin was made and guilt seemed real. Here is
His home, for here there is need of Him indeed. He brings the ending of the
world with Him.
It is His Call God’s teachers answer, turning to Him in
silence to receive His Word. The world will end when all things in it have
been rightly judged by His judgment. The world will end with the
benediction of holiness upon it. When not one thought of sin remains, the
world is over. It will not be destroyed nor attacked nor even touched. It will
merely cease to seem to be.
Certainly this seems to be a long, long while away. “When not one thought
of sin remains” appears to be a long-range goal indeed. But time stands still,
and waits on the goal of God’s teachers. Not one thought of sin will remain
the instant any one of them accepts Atonement for himself. It is not easier to
forgive one sin than to forgive all of them. The illusion of orders of
difficulty is an obstacle the teacher of God must learn to pass by and leave
behind. One sin perfectly forgiven by one teacher of God can make
salvation complete. Can you understand this?
No; it is meaningless to
anyone here. Yet it is the final lesson in which unity is restored. It goes
against all the thinking of the world, but so does Heaven.
The world will end when its thought system has been completely reversed.
Until then, bits and pieces of its thinking will still seem sensible.
The final
lesson, which brings the ending of the world, cannot be grasped by those
not yet prepared to leave the world and go beyond its tiny reach. What,
then, is the function of the teacher of God in this concluding lesson? He
need merely learn how to approach it; to be willing to go in its direction. He
need merely trust that, if God’s Voice tells him it is a lesson he can learn, he
can learn it. He does not judge it either as hard or easy. His Teacher points
to it, and he trusts that He will show him how to learn it.
The world will end in joy, because it is a place of sorrow. When joy has
come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end in peace,
because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the purpose of
the world? The world will end in laughter, because it is a place of tears.
Where there is laughter, who can longer weep? And only complete
forgiveness brings all this to bless the world. In blessing it departs, for it
will not end as it began. To turn hell into Heaven is the function of God’s
teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which Heaven is reflected.
And
now sit down in true humility, and realize that all God would have you do
you can do. Do not be arrogant and say you cannot learn His Own
curriculum. His Word says otherwise. His Will be done. It cannot be
otherwise. And be you thankful it is so.