ACIM Talk Excerpt
David shares a Blue Mountains ACIM talk: If you’re identified with the concept of being Australian, or American, or Swedish, or whatever, and somebody starts knocking, you know, putting down Americans, or Swedes, or Australians, or whatever, and you feel a little twinge go inside, it’s because of the identification of your identity with that concept of nationalism, a particular country.
If you’re having discussions and somebody starts making stereotypical judgments, all men are this way, all women are this way, you know, the old Archie Bunker kind of stereotypical, sweeping judgments, and you find a little twinge of annoyance or irritation at this person that’s going on and on about these things. It’s just because you’re identified as a man or a woman, and that’s where the thing is coming in, it’s a body identification, and that’s where the upset occurs.
Releasing Defensiveness
Jesus says, “Whenever you feel the need to defend, become defensive in any way you have identified yourself with an illusion.” (ACIM, T-22.V.6.1)
And that’s why Christ is not really a concept, it’s a beautiful, perfect idea, it’s a perfect Spirit, and when you become identified with who you are and what you are as the living Christ, or as the living Spirit, you have no more defensiveness.
You are literally invulnerable, you are literally beyond the possibility of being attacked, because you are with God. And remember that saying from the Bible, “If God is with us, who can be against us?” What a beautiful saying.
And you can see how applicable it is. When you identify with Spirit, then you don’t have anything to be defensive about. So that’s a good topic I think for Saturday, because, here we are. We’re going and opening toward the Resurrection.
You can see that the more you get on to the ego’s tricks, the more you discover its games, and how you feel rotten, you feel sad, depressed, angry, upset when you play its games, then you say, a little bit more like The Truman Show, “In case I don’t see you, ego, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.” I’m exiting from your games, I’m exiting from believing in you, from putting faith in you any more, and I’m going to live as a Spirit, and I’m going to live eternally as a Spirit.