A Course in Miracles is a book of profound spiritual wisdom. It’s a restatement of the core wisdom of acim most major world religions.

Hanegraaff says that the book refutes the common view that channeled texts are filled with vapid spiritual platitudes. However, he also believes that there’s much material from Helen’s shorthand notebooks that never made it into the published Course.
The Holy Spirit

A Course in Miracles is all about forgiveness, and a big part of that process involves the Holy Spirit. Sadly, the Holy Spirit gets a bad rap from those who don’t understand Him. He’s been called a force, a ghost, second-class God, and even a “replacement” God. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit is a Person, and He is very real. He is the third member of the Trinity, and He does a lot of work in our lives. His ministry in our lives is often misunderstood, but He does a very important job in the world of miracles.

The Course defines a miracle as the transfer of true perception from one mind to another. Traditionally, we see this happening when a spiritual healer is working on a physical problem in someone else’s body. But the Course extends this definition to include all kinds of healings of the mind.

This is what makes the Course so different from other spiritual teachings. While other teachings tend to focus on the physical, the Course is all about healing the mind. It teaches that every interaction in our lives can be made into a holy encounter by being willing to accept the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

To do this, we must first realize that the Holy Spirit is always there. The Course says, “The Holy Spirit is always present behind the scenes of your life, ready to step in and offer you a new way to view all things.”

For example, let’s say that Helen meets with Bill for lunch and decides to forgive him for something he said about her last year. Her decision is based on the knowledge that this resentment is not really hers to hold onto, and that it is more likely that he was just acting out of his own fear.

Then, the Holy Spirit steps in and shows her a new way to look at the situation. He enables her to move past her belief in the outer situation—pervaded by disease, inequality, and separation—to a spiritual reality characterized by wholeness, equality, and unity. He demonstrates this by showing her a new perception of herself, and then she shares it with Bill, and both enter into a holy encounter.
The Miracle Worker

As with many dramas of the 1950’s, this film portrays the struggle of a human being against an overwhelming force that seems to be insurmountable. The character of Helen Keller, with Anne Sullivan as her companion and mentor, serves to highlight the importance of the Pillar of Character, “caring”. The great achievement shown in this film was only possible because of the strength of the will that Helen displayed. The power of the human will is a lesson that can be applied to any situation in our lives.

In order for miracles to occur, we must be willing to forgive our fears and resentments. This can be very difficult, especially when the person who has been a major cause of our problems appears to have no intention of changing. However, the Course says that to change an effect, its cause must be changed. This means that it is necessary to step outside of our usual patterns and try a new approach. The miracle worker is the one who takes this risk, setting aside their own resentments and reaching out to the miracle receiver with an open mind and a desire for a holy encounter.

The Course packs a lot of content into its concept of the miracle, and extends it into areas not usually associated with miracles. For example, the miracle is intimately related to depth psychology and a view of the unconscious that is significantly Freudian in character, with its vast contents that have been repressed by defense mechanisms and tend to rise to consciousness only in distorted forms. The miracle also reaches into the realm of mysticism in that it calls for forgiveness and true perception (the holy instant) to wipe away interpersonal blocks and restore unity.

Because of the complexities involved in this process, it is not always easy for people to understand the role that the miracle worker plays. It is important to note that the miracle worker does not heal the body itself; rather, it demonstrates to the receiver that the body is an illusion by showing them how it can disappear in a flash. This shifts their perspective from fear to love, and this is the true healing that takes place.
The Miracle Receiver

One of the most fundamental aspects of the miracle that sets it apart from traditional healings is its relationship to forgiveness. The Course views the miracle as an expression of love that heals a believer’s relationship to self and to others. It thus focuses on healing the mind and relationships, and sees any physical recovery that results as a byproduct of this more essential work. The Course also enriches the concept of the miracle, packing into it sophisticated concepts of forgiveness and true perception, and extending it into areas of depth psychology, mysticism, and spiritual development.

The miracle worker is a person who willingly takes on the responsibility of healing his or her relationship to self and to others. This means that the miracle worker is willing to let go of all judgments, and to accept what the Holy Spirit offers as the truth. The miracle is the Holy Spirit’s means of offering this atonement, and it enables the miracle worker to experience his or her own natural state of oneness and equality.

For example, the miracle worker may be working with a family member who looks quite sick, but whose ill health is the result of deep-seated guilt over past behaviors. The miracle worker may be willing to forgive this relative for the role he or she has played in causing the illness, and to recognize that the relative is not really sick at all.

This is because the miracle compares what a man has made with creation and accepts as true what accords with it, while rejecting all aspects of fear as false (Text, p. 61). As a device for perception correction, the miracle is indiscriminate and unfailing.

In this way, the miracle is a very powerful tool for dealing with all forms of sickness, including mental and emotional disorders and addictions. Often, these problems are the result of an unconscious belief that one is the ego, and that one therefore has a right to attack others verbally and physically in order to advance one’s own interests. The miracle, by forgiving this underlying guilt, helps to break the cycle of resentment and violence that has become so entrenched in human societies around the world.
The Miracle’s Content

While the Course does not seek to change religious beliefs, morals, or behavior as do most religions, it does aspire to affect the way in which people think. It teaches a different way of viewing reality, a “true worldview” that has an impact on every aspect of one’s life. This is its purpose, and it accomplishes this goal by transforming the concept of miracle.

In this regard, it transforms the image of the miracle by immensely enriching the concept, filling it with an extensive thought system. For example, when the Course talks about the miracle’s content it is referring to the fact that a miracle demonstrates the unreality of physical objects. It does this by directing the attention away from the body, which it views as a shifting appearance rather than a genuine reality. This shifts the focus of healing away from the bodily level to the level of the mind.

Another aspect of the miracle’s content is its function as a form of release from the fear and anger that underlie the human condition. As Workbook Lesson 332 states, "Fear binds the world; forgiveness sets it free."

The miracle is also a means to transcend the ego’s need for control and power. It does this by establishing a new pattern of perception, in which the miracle worker and receiver are united in their desire for freedom from fear and anger. This new perception is based on the recognition that they are one in God, and it is reflected in the loving actions they take to release each other.

One other aspect of the miracle’s content is its role in demonstrating the principle that there is no order of difficulty for miracles. This is a fundamental concept of the Course, and it rejects the argument that some events are more or less miraculous than others. It states, for example, that a cancer can be healed as easily as a cold. It is only the ego’s belief that some illnesses are more serious than others that makes them seem harder to heal.

The lesson on the miracle’s content also explains that a miracle is a shift of perception that occurs in the holy instant, or that moment in which the mind is at rest. It thereby offers the miracle worker and miracle receiver the chance to recognize the eternal nature of their relationship and to escape from the illusion of time and space that pervades our world.