never forget to laugh
 

The profound effect the Course has already had in its first four decades is incalculable, starting with those who birthed it.  It has entered into manifestation not just because Helen and Bill wanted to find a better way, but through  willingness and desire on the part of human consciousness to come of age.  It manifested in accordance with the deepest urgings of our common mind to move through the fog of egocentricity into the clear and wordless experience of unity. 


Bill and I spoke about the Course’s longevity shortly before his passing.  We agreed it would doubtless reach  many more people before its zenith and that we simply couldn’t imagine its ongoing influence.  Both of us believed that those who had encountered the Course up to that point (in 1988) were the pathfinders,  psychological pioneers who had volunteered to challenge the old precepts on which most of human experience has been based.  In every era, various seers and masters have comprehended the hypnotized state of the human condition and offered Truth as its remedy, but this modern group of pioneers represents a grassroots movement.  These are “ordinary people” questioning the status quo and claiming their right to be free of psychological bondage. 


In time, I believe ACIM will be recognized as one of the foundational writings of this century, if not this millennium, a standard against which other writings are measured.  Perhaps it won’t be known in the form of the blue book we recognize, but through variations that countless numbers can comprehend and embrace.  Its future lies in the people who are changed by it now as it informs their lives and work, resulting in the inevitable expansion of collective consciousness.  There will always be a recognizable response to mankind’s growing desire to be whole and at peace, and as the last sentence of the workbook states, “His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.”


 

Afterword


Foreword


Preface

bill thetford, william thetford