Principle 43: Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind or a state of miracle-readiness. (T-1.I.43:1)

COURSE REFERENCES

Miracles are a kind of exchange. Like all expressions of love, which are always miraculous in the true sense, the exchange reverses the physical laws. They bring more love both to the giver and the receiver. (T-1.I.9:1-3)

The miracle is much like the body in that both are learning aids for facilitating a state in which they become unnecessary. When spirit’s original state of direct communication is reached, neither the body nor the miracle serves any purpose. While you believe you are in a body, however, you can choose between loveless (ego) or miraculous (spirit) channels of expression. (T-1.V.1:1-3)

Spirit knows God completely. That is its miraculous power. The fact that each one of you has this power completely is a condition entirely alien to the world’s thinking. The world believes that if anyone has everything, there is nothing left. But God’s miracles are as total as His Thoughts because they are His Thoughts. (T-3.V.9:3-7) God is not partial. Anything one has, all have.

You may still think that holiness is impossible to understand, because you cannot see how it can be extended to include everyone. And you have been told that it must include everyone to be holy. Do not concern yourself with the extension of holiness, for you do not understand the nature of miracles. Nor do you do them. It is their extension, far beyond the limits you perceive, that demonstrates you do not do them. Why should you worry how the miracle extends to all the Sonship when you do not understand the miracle itself? (T-16.II.1:1-6) Let it be and trust.

If you offer miracles, you will be equally strong in your belief in them. The strength of your conviction will then sustain the belief of the miracle receiver. So be certain in your belief in their efficacy so as to reach the goal of the miracle-minded: the complete restoration of the Sonship. (T-1.VII.3:9-10,14)

The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. In this sense it is timeless. (T-1.47:1-3)

The basic decision of the miracle-minded is not to wait on time any longer than is necessary. Time can waste as well as be wasted. The miracle worker, therefore, accepts the time-control factor gladly. He recognizes that every collapse of time brings everyone closer to the ultimate release from time, in which the Son and the Father are one. (T-1.V.2:1-4)

The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time. (T-1.1.48:1)

Miracle-minded forgiveness is only correction. It has no element of judgment at all. The statement “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” in no way evaluates what they do. It is an appeal to God to heal their minds. There is no reference to the outcome of the error. That does not matter. (T-2.V.A.16:1-6) Remember, the Holy Spirit does not see error. He only leads to correction.

Jesus will not intervene between your thoughts and their results as he would be tampering with the basic law of cause and effect; the most fundamental law there is. He will not depreciate the power of your own thinking, which would be in direct opposition to the purpose of this course which emphasizes the power of your thinking. It is much more helpful for him to remind you that you do not guard your thoughts carefully enough. You may feel at this point that it would take a miracle to enable you to do this, which is perfectly true. You are not used to miracle-minded thinking, but you can be trained to think that way. All miracle workers need that kind of training. (T-2.VII.1:4-10)

Jesus cannot let you leave your mind unguarded, or you will not be able to help him. Miracle working entails a full realization of the power of thought in order to avoid miscreation. Otherwise a miracle will be necessary to set the mind itself straight, a circular process that would not foster the time collapse for which the miracle was intended. The miracle worker must have genuine respect for true cause and effect as a necessary condition for the miracle to occur. (T-2.VII.2:1-4)

One of the ways in which you can correct the magic-miracle confusion is to remember that you did not create yourself. You are apt to forget this when you become egocentric, and this puts you in a position where a belief in magic is virtually inevitable. Your will to create was given you by your Creator, Who was expressing the same Will in His creation. Since creative ability rests in the mind, everything you create is necessarily a matter of will. It also follows that whatever you alone make is real in your own sight, though not in the Mind of God. This basic distinction leads directly into the real meaning of the Last Judgment. (T-2.VIII.1:1-6)

The Last Judgment is one of the most threatening ideas in your thinking. This is because you do not understand it. Judgment is not an attribute of God. It was brought into being only after the separation as one of the many learning devices to be built into the overall plan. Just as the separation occurred over millions of years, the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even longer one. Its length can, however, be greatly shortened by miracles, the device for shortening but not abolishing time. If a sufficient number become truly miracle-minded, this shortening process can be virtually immeasurable. It is essential that you free yourself from fear quickly, because you must emerge from the conflict to bring peace to other minds. (T-2.VIII.2:1-8)

The Last Judgment might be called a process of right evaluation. It simply means that everyone will finally come to understand what is worthy and what is not. After this, the ability to choose can be directed rationally. Until this distinction is made, however, the vacillations between free and imprisoned will cannot but continue. (T-2.VIII.3:5-8)

When everything you retain is lovable, brother, there is no reason for fear to remain with you. This is your part in the Atonement. (T-2.VIII.5:10)

Right-mindedness is not to be confused with the knowing mind, because it is applicable only to right perception. You can be right-minded or wrong-minded, and even this is subject to degrees, clearly demonstrating that knowledge is not involved. The term “right-mindedness” is properly used as the correction for “wrong-mindedness,” and applies to the state of mind that induces accurate perception. It is miracle-minded because it heals misperception, and this is indeed a miracle in view of how you perceive yourself. (T-3.IV.4:1-4)

Your will is still in you because God placed it in your mind, and although you can keep it asleep you cannot obliterate it. God Himself keeps your will alive by transmitting it from His Mind to yours as long as there is the appearance of time. The miracle itself is a reflection of this union of will between Father and Son. (T-5.II.1:1-7)

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of joy. He is the Call to return with which God blessed the minds of His separated Sons. This is the vocation of the mind, the call to right thinking. The Holy Spirit is God’s Answer to the separation; the means by which the Atonement heals until the whole mind returns to creating. (T-5.II.2:1-5)

Jesus’ message is for you, to hear and to give away as you answer the Holy Spirit within you Who tells you GOD IS. (T-5.II12:6)