Purification and Miracles, split from "What is a Miracle?"

We often think that releasing our fear thoughts is getting rid of them some way...letting them go, dumping them, but actually they are purified. The Course teaches that thoughts do not leave their source. Destruction is not part of God. The thoughts that cannot be shared because they are of fear, are transformed by the Holy Spirit, brought to the light. The substance of thought is love, but love is distorted in this dream world. It is our perception that is corrected by the miracle.

This is interesting. Can you give an example or two of what you might consider to be fear thoughts that have been purified?

When we are willing to forgive an unloving/fear thought, then the Holy Spirit is able to take that thought and transform it so that we experience love instead of the opposite emotion (or emotions, since fear is split into many emotions). Our prior judgment is simply not true and we recognize that. Our judgment of what we perceive has changed to love simply because we have been willing to see it differently, to see the truth instead of the false. I don't think this happens unless it is a deep felt or heart felt willingness. Yet I think even being willing to be willing will bring some change eventually.

When we have forgiven a person, I think there is nothing the person could do to change that. We could overlook everything in the dream. We associate only thoughts of love with that person. To me, what the Course teaches about the transfer value of learning means that we can take one example like this and apply it everywhere.

For me, an example is another person. Others are fear thoughts. We fear the thoughts of God, and who but our brothers are the thoughts of God? We judge our brothers and hold their pasts against them. But it is the same with ourselves. We judge ourselves and hold our own past against ourselves. So we judge all thoughts of God. But God would have us judge their worth and love His Thoughts as He Loves. We see opposites in His Thoughts, so we have split the thoughts of God in two....and even more than two...many. So each person we see seems to have many aspects. There's only one aspect and its what God made.

A miracle corrects perception. Forgiveness occurs because we are willing to forgive. Each aspect that appears opposite love is changed when we can bring it to our consciousness and see it differently. For example, what we have judged as "lazy" we now see as "busy" doing something else rather than "not doing". What we have judged as angry, we now see as in need of love and attention, or to be heard, etc.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense.