We have spoken of many different human symptoms, and at this level there
is almost endless variation. There is, however, only ONE cause of all of
them. The authority problem IS “the root of all evil.” Money is but one
of its many reflections, and is a reasonably representative example of
the kind of thinking which stems from it. The idea of buying and selling
implies precisely the kind of exchange that the Soul cannot understand
at all, because its Supply is always abundant and all its demands are
fully met.

Every symptom which the ego has made involves a contradiction in terms.
This is because the mind is split between the ego and the Soul, so that
WHATEVER the ego makes is incomplete and contradictory. This untenable
position is the result of the authority problem which, because it
accepts the one inconceivable thought as its premise, can only produce
ideas which are inconceivable. The term “profess” is used quite
frequently in the Bible. To profess is to identify with an idea, and
offer the idea to others to be their own. The idea does not lessen; it
becomes STRONGER.

A good teacher clarifies his own ideas, and strengthens them by teaching
them. Teacher and pupil are alike in the learning process. They are in
the same order of learning, and unless they SHARE their lessons, they
will lack conviction. A good teacher must believe in the ideas which he
professes, but he must meet another condition; he must also believe in
the students to whom he offers his ideas. Many stand guard over their
ideas because they want to protect their thought systems as they are,
and learning means change. Change is always fearful to the separated
ones, because they cannot conceive of it as a
change towards HEALING the separation. They ALWAYS perceive it as a
change towards further separation, because the separation was their
first experience of change.

You believe that, if you allow no change to enter into your ego, your
Soul will find peace. This profound confusion is possible only if one
maintains that the same thought system can stand on two foundations.
NOTHING can reach the Soul from the ego, and nothing FROM the Soul can
strengthen the ego, or reduce the conflict within it. The ego IS a
contradiction. Man’s self and God’s Self ARE in opposition. They are
opposed in creation, in will, and in outcome. They are fundamentally
irreconcilable because the Soul cannot perceive and the ego cannot know.
They are therefore NOT IN COMMUNICATION, and can never BE in
communication. Nevertheless, the ego can learn because its maker can be
misguided, but CANNOT make the totally lifeless out of the
life-given. The Soul need not be taught, but the ego MUST.

The ultimate reason why learning is perceived as frightening is because
learning DOES lead to the relinquishment (NOT destruction) of the ego to
the Light of the Soul. This is the change the ego MUST fear because it
does not share my charity. My lesson was like yours, and because I
learned it I can teach it. I never attack your egos, but I DO try to
teach you how their thought system arose. When I remind you of your TRUE
creation, your egos cannot BUT respond with fear.

Teaching and learning are your greatest strengths now because you MUST
change your mind and help others change theirs. It is pointless to
refuse to tolerate change because you believe you can demonstrate that,
by doing so, the separation has not occurred. The dreamer who doubts the
reality of his dream while he is still dreaming is not really healing
the level-split. You HAVE dreamed of a separated ego, and you HAVE
believed in a world which rests upon it. This is very real to you. You
cannot undo this by doing nothing and NOT changing.

If you are willing to renounce the role of guardian of your thought
system and open it to me, I will correct it very gently and lead you
home. Every good teacher hopes to give his students so much of his own
thinking that they will one day no longer need
him. This is the one real goal of the parent, teacher and therapist. This
goal will not be achieved by those who believe that they will LOSE their
child or pupil or patient if they succeed. It is IMPOSSIBLE to convince
the ego of this because it goes against all of its own laws. But
remember that laws are set up to protect the continuity of the system in
which the law-maker BELIEVES.

It is natural enough for the ego to try to protect itself, once you have
made it, but it is NOT natural for YOU to want to obey its laws unless
YOU believe in them. The ego cannot make this choice because of the
nature of its origin. YOU can because of the nature of YOURS. Egos can
clash in any situation, but Souls cannot clash at all. If you perceive a
teacher as merely a “larger ego,” you WILL be afraid, because to ENLARGE
an ego IS to increase separation anxiety. I will teach with you and live
with you if you will think with me, but my goal will always be to
absolve you finally from the NEED for a teacher.

This is the OPPOSITE of the ego-oriented teacher’s goal. He is concerned
with the effect of HIS ego on OTHER egos, and therefore interprets their
interaction as a means of ego preservation. I would not be able to
devote myself to teaching if I believed this, and YOU will not be a
devoted teacher as long as YOU maintain it. I am constantly being
perceived as a teacher either to be exalted or rejected, but I do not
accept either perception for myself.

Your worth is NOT established by your teaching OR your learning. Your
worth was established by God. As long as you dispute this EVERYTHING you
do will be fearful, particularly any situation which lends itself to the
“superiority-inferiority” fallacy. Teachers must be patient, and repeat
their lessons until they are learned. I am willing to do this because I
have no right to set your learning limits for you. Once again, – NOTHING
you do or think or wish or make is necessary to establish your worth.
This point is not debatable except in delusions. Your ego is NEVER at
stake because God did NOT create it. Your Soul is never at stake because
He DID. ANY confusion on this point is a delusion and no form of
devotion is possible as long as this delusion lasts.

The ego tries to exploit ALL situations into forms of praise for itself
in order to overcome its doubts. It will be doubtful forever, or rather,
as long as you believe in it. You who made it CANNOT trust it
because you KNOW it is not real. The only SANE solution is not to try to
change reality, which is indeed a fearful attempt, but to see it as it
IS. YOU are part of reality, which stands unchanged beyond the reach of
your ego, but within easy reach of your Soul. When you are afraid, be
still and KNOW that God is real and YOU are His beloved Son in whom He
is well pleased. Do not let your ego dispute this, because the ego
cannot know what is as far beyond its reach as you are.

God is NOT the author of fear. YOU are. You have chosen, therefore, to
create unlike Him, and you have made fear for yourselves. You are not at
peace because you are not fulfilling your function. God gave you a very
lofty responsibility which you are not meeting. You KNOW this, and you
are afraid. In fact, your egos have chosen to be afraid INSTEAD of
meeting it. When you awaken, you will not be able to understand this
because it is literally incredible. DO NOT BELIEVE THE INCREDIBLE NOW.
Any attempt to increase its believableness is merely to postpone the
inevitable.

The word “inevitable” is fearful to the ego, but joyous to the Soul. God
IS inevitable, and you CANNOT avoid Him any more than He can avoid YOU.
The ego is afraid of the Soul’s joy because, once you have experienced
it, you will withdraw all protection from the ego, and become totally
without the investment in fear. Your investment is great now because
fear is a witness to the separation, and your ego rejoices when you
witness to it. Leave it behind! Do not listen to it, and do not preserve
it. Listen only to God,Who is as incapable of deception as are the Souls
He created.

Release yourselves and release others. Do not present a false and
unworthy picture of yourself to others, and do not accept such a picture
of them yourselves. The ego has built a shabby and unsheltering home for
you because it cannot build otherwise. Do not try to make this
impoverished house stand. ITS weakness is YOUR strength. Only God could
make a home that is worthy of His creations, who have chosen to leave it
empty by their own dispossession. Yet His home will stand forever, and
is ready for you when you choose to enter it. Of this you can be wholly
certain. God is as incapable of creating the perishable as the ego is of
making the eternal.

Of your egos you can do nothing to save yourselves or others,
but of your Souls you can do everything for the salvation of both.
Humility is a lesson for the ego, NOT for the Soul. The Soul is beyond
humility because it recognizes its radiance, and gladly sheds its light
everywhere. The meek shall inherit the earth because their egos are
humble and this gives them better perception. The Kingdom of Heaven is
the RIGHT of the Soul, whose beauty and dignity are far beyond doubt,
beyond perception, and stand forever as the mark of the Love of God for
His creations, who are wholly worthy of Him and ONLY of Him. Nothing
else is sufficiently worthy to be a gift for a creation of God Himself.

I will substitute for your ego if you wish, but NEVER for your Soul. A
father can safely leave a child with an elder brother who has shown
himself responsible, but this involves no confusion about the child’s
origin. The brother can protect the child’s body and his ego, which are
VERY closely related, but he does not confuse HIMSELF with the father
because he does this, although the child may. I can be entrusted with
your body and your ego simply because this enables you NOT to be
concerned with them, and lets ME teach you their unimportance. I could
not understand their importance to YOU if I had not once been tempted to
believe in them myself.

Let us undertake to learn this lesson together, so we can be free of
them together. I need devoted teachers who share my aim of healing the
mind. The Soul is far beyond the need of your protection OR mine.
Remember this:

“In this world you NEED not have tribulation BECAUSE I have overcome
the world.”

THAT is why you should be of good cheer.