By recognizing spirit, miracles adjust the levels of perception and show them in proper alignment. This places spirit at the center, where it can communicate directly (T-1.I.30:1-2).
By affirming our identity as spirit and de-emphasizing our identification with the body, the miracle brings all levels of perception into alignment with Truth. This creates a sense of peace and order in us which naturally extends outward to all our brothers and sisters. We call this extension “communication.” It is the opposite of projection.
“Alignment” here does not refer to some straight line or hierarchy implicit in the cosmos but rather to a more general harmony, a coherence, where all is well and all things are in their rightful place and one knows this and their knowing is a form of participation. It is a form of being coherent, of creating coherently. Imagine a garden with the tomatoes here, the basil there and the sunflowers over yonder. Everything is in order according to what it is; there is no deviation anywhere.
Our bodies perceive the world – they bring the world forth – through varying senses such as sight or sound or smell. Emotions arise – anxiety, anger, guilt, anticipation. These are accompanied by physical symptoms – accelerated heart beat, sweaty palms, tension headaches. And we act from this state – saying yes, saying no, hiding this and revealing that. All these experiences are named and categorized by the intellect, which is yet another level of physical experience. In this way, every thought, every emotion, and every sensation reflects perception.
At the center of all this activity – the center where it still and quiet – resides Spirit. Spirit interprets all the data, discerning patterns on a rubric with two questions: is it love or is it a cry for love? And it knows – because of Who created it, and from Whom it cannot be separated – that love is always the correct response to both. Spirit directs us unfailingly accordingly.
“Center” here can be understood to refer to awareness or consciousness. It is the experience of the holy instant, in which past and future dissolve, taking with them all aspects of self and world that depend on time. At the center is the true self, the being in which the light of God shines and through which all experience is recognized and known. At the center is Christ.
When Christ is our center, then we know order, and perception of the divine order “on earth as it is in Heaven” becomes inevitable. We know that we are extensions of God in Creation, and that we share this identity with all of life. In this way, communication is enhanced, both with our brothers and sisters, and with the Holy Spirit and ultimately with God.
Learning of Christ is easy, for to perceive with Him involves no strain at all. His perceptions are your natural awareness, and it is only distortions you introduce that tire you. Let the Christ in you interpret for you, and do not try to limit what you see by narrow little beliefs that are unworthy of God’s Son (T-11.VI.3:7-9).
Miracles restore a sense of order to our living by placing us in direct contact with the Voice for God, Whose direction and guidance always lead to a state of happiness and peace, allowing us to become of greater service to one another, thus reinforcing order in our living. Miracles are both iterative and generative.
It is helpful to remember that perception is inherently flawed, because the ego always interprets in terms of the past, which can only serve its goal of sustained conflict. Yet the past, because it is gone, has no causative power. It is fundamentally illusory. Therefore, the ego’s interpretation is always wrong. If you start with an error, then you end with an error.
The miracle allows us to release this flawed approach to understanding perception, and to interpret it instead with the Holy Spirit, Who sees only opportunities to learn – yet again – that we are Love Itself and Love holds everything. This is all we need to know, and all we can know.
