The Script is Written = Purpose is the Only Choice

Like so many other ACIM students, I've tried very hard to understand the line in the Workbook that says, "The script is written." I've spent years creating mental models that would help me understand and explain this concept to others, and yet there's never been a sense of real satisfaction with it. There's always been an underlying frustration; a subtle feeling that no matter how "perfectly" I think I "understand" it, I'm still not at peace.

Starting at 1:05:18 of this talk by David Hoffmeister, a young woman asks a question about "the script is written", and David gives the best answer I've ever heard. It is one I think I'm finally able to accept 100%, because in essence it points to the ultimate answer: Purpose is the only choice.

Purpose is the only choice means that in truth, I do not really have any choice about what to do, what time to go to bed, what to eat, who to spend time with, or even what spiritual path to study. My only choice is one of Purpose, and relaxing into this realization undoes all guilt and brings the remembrance of Divine innocence.

A Course in Miracles says that my only responsibility is to accept the Atonement for myself. I am not responsible for anything in the script, for the script is over, it cannot be changed, and was only a dream to begin with. The script includes what we would call the past and what we would call the future, both of which are in the past (we could call them the past-past, and the future-past). Being over and done and in the past, there is no point in trying to control the script.  That is why Jesus in the Course says, "seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world." Since the world and the script are synonymous, we could also read that line as saying, "seek not to change the script, but choose to change your mind about the script."

How do I change my mind about the script? By choosing to follow the Holy Spirit's Purpose of awakening, forgiveness, and love instead of the ego's purpose of judgment, blame, and guilt. What this means being willing to let my judgments be replaced by the Holy Spirit's Perspective on everything that seems to occur in it. Practically speaking, this means putting all my focus on asking for His guidance with everything I seem to be dealing with in the script (as opposed to trying to figure things out on my own). By following His guidance, miracles occur which show me that I was mistaken about what I believed. For example, when Spirit tells me to do one thing when I'm "convinced" I should do another thing, but then I follow Him and something amazing occurs as a result—this is a miracle! And miracles undo my fixed perspectives and opinions little by little (or sometimes a lot by a lot!) and open my mind towards the realization that what I believed was not actually true.  　

Here's a beautiful passage that points to the experience of releasing the attempt to change or control the script:

"Release the future. For the past is gone, and what is present, freed from its bequest of grief and misery, of pain and loss, becomes the instant in which time escapes the bondage of illusions where it runs its pitiless, inevitable course. Then is each instant which was slave to time transformed into a holy instant, when the light that was kept hidden in God's Son is freed to bless the world. Now is he free, and all his glory shines upon a world made free with him, to share his holiness." (W-pI.194.5)

And this is the realization to where it all leads:

"In the ultimate sense, reincarnation is impossible. There is no past or future, and the idea of birth into a body has no meaning either once or many times." (M-24.1.1,2)

In other words, we've never really incarnated in the first place, and so we're not really here (it's just a dream).

"How else can you find joy in a joyless place except by realizing that you are not there? You cannot be anywhere God did not put you, and God created you as part of Him." (T-6.II.6.1,2)

But this is quite high, and so again, it comes back to practicality. How DO I come to the realization that I'm not really here in the world, have never really incarnated in the first place, and am simply having a dream of separation?

Here is the answer:

"The curriculum is highly individualized, and all aspects are under the Holy Spirit's particular care and guidance. Ask and He will answer. The responsibility is His, and He alone is fit to assume it. To do so is His function.  To refer the questions to Him is yours. Would you want to be responsible for decisions about which you understand so little? Be glad you have a Teacher Who cannot make a mistake. His answers are always right. Would you say that of yours?

"There is another advantage,—and a very important one,—in referring decisions to the Holy Spirit with increasing frequency. Perhaps you have not thought of this aspect, but its centrality is obvious. To follow the Holy Spirit's guidance is to let yourself be absolved of guilt. It is the essence of the Atonement. It is the core of the curriculum. The imagined usurping of functions not your own is the basis of fear. The whole world you see reflects the illusion that you have done so, making fear inevitable. To return the function to the One to Whom it belongs is thus the escape from fear. And it is this that lets the memory of love return to you. Do not, then, think that following the Holy Spirit's guidance is necessary merely because of your own inadequacies. It is the way out of hell for you." (M-29.2-3)

So, so practical. Thank you Jesus.

If you'd like to go deeper into how to live this way without exception (and thus experience the peace seen in the man's face below), I invite you to join us each month for the Awakening from the Dream series of online retreats. They are a powerful way to learn from other mighty companions who have devoted their life to Awakening.

This next month's topic (November 2019) will be "Purpose is the only choice". You can watch the video below to learn more, or go directly to the event page. Alternatively, you can see a list of all upcoming events offered by the Living Miracles community here.

Love you,

Erik