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.
A Course in Miracles Manual
for Teachers |