Corresponding Text Section

Chapter 25: Undoing the Spell of Specialness

5. Awakening or Being Bound in Specialness

Specialness is a lack of trust in anyone except yourself. Faith is invested in yourself alone. Everything else becomes to the ego the secret enemy against your specialness—dangerous and deadly, feared and attacked, hated and worthy only of destruction. Whatever gentleness that anything offers is perceived as mere deception, but whatever violence it offers is believed to be real. Believing itself to be in danger of its own destruction, specialness must defend itself, and you are drawn by it to attack first and eliminate what is feared, before it hurts you. And such is guilt’s attraction. Here is death of the other enthroned as “savior” from being destroyed first. In the madness of this dream, abandonment and martyrdom become redemption, and “salvation” ultimately can only mean destruction of the world except yourself.

What could the purpose of the body be in such a world but specialness? And it is this purpose that makes the body frail and helpless in its own defense. It was conceived by its maker to make you frail and helpless. The goal of separation is its own curse.

Yet of themselves bodies have no goal in reality. Purpose is of the mind, and minds can change this as they desire. What minds are, and all their true attributes, cannot change. But what they hold as purpose can be changed, and body states must shift accordingly, being the projection of the mind.

Of itself the body can do nothing. Perceive it as means to hurt, and it is hurt. Perceive it as means to heal, and it is healed. You can only hurt as well as heal yourself. This has often been repeated in this Course, but is difficult to grasp as yet. To minds intent on specialness, it is impossible to grasp. But to those who will to heal and not attack, it is quite obvious. The purpose of attack is in the mind, and attack’s effects are felt only where the mind is. Nor is mind limited, so must it be that harmful purpose is experienced by all minds as one. Yet nothing could make less sense to specialness, while nothing could make more sense to miracles. For miracles are merely the change of purpose from harm to healing.

This shift in purpose does “endanger” specialness, but only in the sense that all illusions are “threatened” by the Truth. This is because they cannot stand in Truth’s Presence. Yet what comfort has ever been in illusions that would cause you to withhold the gift of yourself your Creator asks you give It, and give this gift to illusions instead? Given to the Creator, the Universe is yours. Offered to illusions, no gifts can be returned to you. What you give specialness would leave you bankrupt, your treasure house barren and empty, with an open door inviting everything that would disturb your peace to enter and destroy.

This Course has said to consider not the Means by which awakening is attained, nor how to reach it. But do consider, and consider well, whether it be your will that you might see your sisters and brothers sinless, guiltless, and innocent, which are one. To specialness the answer must be “no.” A sinless brother or sister is the enemy of specialness, while a sinful one, were it possible, would be its friend. Your sisters and brothers’ unforgivable errors would justify your belief in specialness, and give it meaning that the Truth denies. All that is real proclaims their Innocence. All that is false proclaims their guilt. If they were sinful and guilty, then would your reality not be real, but just a dream of specialness that lasts an instant, crumbling into dust. Do not defend this senseless dream, in which the Divine is bereft of what It loves, and you remain beyond awakening.

In this shifting world that has no meaning in Reality only one thing is certain: When Peace is not with you entirely, and when you suffer pain of any kind, then you have looked upon some error within your brother or sister, and have rejoiced at what you thought was there. Your specialness seemed safe because of it. And thus you sought to save your specialness, which you appointed to be your savior, and to judge and condemn the one the Divine has given you for your awakening. And so in truth is specialness their enemy, and yours as well. Thus are you bound with your sisters and brothers, in specialness or awakening, for you are One with them.