All I need do is to step back...

From the Urtext: (as it was orginally written down by  the scribe of A Course in Miracles)

(October 5, 1975)

Be comforted. You are not asked to do anything. There is a time when to step back is all that is asked of you. It is a time of rest and not of strain; a time of peace and not a time of conflict.That time is almost here. It seems fearful because it is not under your control. But think a minute; stop and think honestly about what your control has done; what it has brought to you.

You have been caught in a trap from which you never could escape. Conflict, guilt and fear have come with you and never left your side. Each one of you has done this differently, yet each has come to the same place; the same impasse. And now it seems to each of you that there is no escape. For it is true that you cannot escape alone. Your stories seem to differ, for they do take different forms.Yet their one content makes you brothers. Dwell not upon the differences or you are lost. It is in recognizing the common content; the common need, that you are saved!

The mess that is your lives is an illusion. What can the form of dreams resolve? There is no answer to a question not yet asked, for it would not be recognized. Ask only this: Will I fulfill the function given me? What else is there to ask? Why must I know the form in which the answer comes to me? God answers, “Yes” and it is done. No more than this is meaningful to you.

It is not He Who would withhold the future and leave you fearful. You could not accept His “yes”in forms you would not understand. Things still in time unfold as is appointed them, and many things remain undone as yet. Plans based upon intangibles cannot be fully shown to you. And what has not as yet occurred must BE intangible.This phase of learning has a single lesson for all the forms your problems seem to take. To God all things are possible, but you must ask His answer only of Himself.

Perhaps you think you do, but be you sure that if you did you would be quiet now and wholly undismayed by anything. Do not attempt to guess His Will for you. DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOU ARE RIGHT BECAUSE AN ANSWER SEEMS TO COME FROM HIM. BE SURE YOU ASK, AND THEN BE STILL AND LET HIM SPEAK. There is no problem He cannot resolve, for it is never He Who keeps apart some questions to be solved by someone else. You cannot share the world with Him and make half of it His while half belongs to you. Truth makes no compromise. To keep apart a little is to keep all separate. Your life, complete and whole, belongs to God or none of it is His. There is no thought in all the world that seems more terrible.

Yet it is only when this thought appears in perfect clarity that there is hope in peace and safety for the mind so long kept dark and twisted to avoid the light. This IS the light. Step back and do not dwell upon the forms that seem to keep you bound. You WILL fulfill your function. And will have whatever you will need. God does not fail. But lay no limits on what you would give to Him to be resolved. For He can not offer a thousand answers when but one is all there is. Accept this one of Him, and not one question will remain to ask.

DO NOT FORGET IF YOU ATTEMPT TO SOLVE A PROBLEM, YOU HAVE JUDGED IT FOR YOURSELF AND SO YOU HAVE BETRAYED YOUR PROPER ROLE. Grandeur, which comes from God, establishes that judgment is impossible for you. But grandiosity insists you judge, and bring to this all problems that you have. And what is the result? Look carefully upon your life and let it speak for you.

Is this frail breath and deep uncertainty your choice for you? Or would you rather rest in surety, certain you would not fail in your request to have all problems happily resolved? Do not mistake the fine disguises you can use to cover judgment. It appears as charity, as mercy and as love; as pity, understanding and as care. And yet you know it is not what it seems because the problem still remains unsolved, and comes to haunt your mind in evil dreams.

What have you kept from God that you would hide behind your judgment? What have you concealed beneath the cloak of kindness and concern? Use no one for your needs, for that is “sin,” and you will pay the penalty in guilt. Remember you need nothing, but you have an endless store of loving gifts to give. But teach this lesson only to yourself.

YOUR BROTHER WILL NOT LEARN IT FROM YOUR WORDS OR FROM THE JUDGMENTS YOU HAVE LAID ON HIM. YOU NEED NOT EVEN SPEAK A WORD TO HIM. YOU CANNOT ASK, “WHAT SHALL I SAY TO HIM?” AND HEAR GOD’S ANSWER. RATHER ASK INSTEAD, “HELP ME TO SEE THIS BROTHER THROUGH THE EYES OF TRUTH AND NOT OF JUDGMENT,” AND THE HELP OF GOD AND ALL HIS ANGELS WILL RESPOND.

For only here we rest. We cast away our little judgments and our petty words; our tiny problems and our false concerns.We have attempted to be master of our destiny and thought that peace lay there.Freedom and judgment IS impossible. But by your side is One Who knows the way.Step back for Him and let Him lead you to the rest and silence of the Word of God.

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