There is nothing to fear.
To the ego, the statement “there is nothing to fear” makes no sense. Indeed, it borders on offensive – of course there is something to fear. Have you read the news? Looked at the world?
To the ego – and to its home, the body – fear is natural and rational. But we are not bodies (W-pI.199.8:7), and the world is not real (W-pI.132.6:2).
Therefore, there is another way.
In truth there is nothing to fear. It is very easy to recognize this. But it is very difficult to recognize it for those who want illusions to be true (W-pI.48.1:3-5).
So the issue is not what is true or not true, but rather our insistence on remaining in illusion. We want the illusion and not truth. Lesson 48 is a deep dive into the source of separation which is simply our determination that it be true.
When you make something to fill a perceived lack, you are tacitly implying that you believe in separation. The ego has invented many ingenious thought systems for this purpose (T-3.V.2:4-5).
What is whole and integrated cannot fear for there is nothing to attack and thus nothing to defend against. It is only when lack or loss enters our thinking, that fear appears as a reasonable reminder to call upon attack and defense for protection and gain.
But if this worked, would we be here? A Course in Miracles is not given because we are at perfect peace, in full remembrance of love, and thus totally happy in the Kingdom of Heaven.
When we are faced with fear, it is because we have chosen our strength over God’s. And there is another way.
The awareness that there is nothing to fear shows that somewhere in your mind, though not necessarily in a place you recognize as yet, you have remembered God, and let His strength take the place of your weakness. The instant you are willing to do this there is nothing to fear (W-pI.48.3:1-2).
The other way is to simply state that “there is nothing to fear” and be willing to believe it is true. We do not have to make it true; we do not have to force it to reveal it’s truthfulness.
We merely have to be open to receive it as the truth. And we can do this because it is a condition of what we are as creations of a perfectly loving God.
Thus, lesson 48 is effectively an opportunity to directly encounter both our fear and that which reveals our fear to be illusory. We reach the grounds of separation – the supposed birthplace of ego – and we go beyond it – through the “churn and bubble on the surface” (W-pI.47.7:2) of our minds – to the impersonal stillness that is God’s grace, and our true home and being.
This is joy; this is peace.
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