BRIDGE
KEYS – T28f/33=TEXT pages 28&29 in 1st edition – page 33 in 2nd edition. W=Workbook. M=Teachers Manual. SOP=A Song of Prayer. PPP=Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice.
Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between his selves. Each one builds this bridge, which carries him across the gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it. His little efforts are powerfully supplemented by the strength of Heaven, and by the united will of all who make Heaven what it is, being joined within it. And so the one who would cross over is literally transported there.
Your bridge is builded stronger
than you think, and your foot is planted firmly on it. Have no fear that the
attraction of those who stand on the other side and wait for you will not draw
you safely across. For you will come where you would be, and where your Self
awaits you. T313/336f
In fundamental violation of love's one condition, the special love relationship would accomplish the impossible. How but in illusion could this be done? It is essential that we look very closely at exactly what it is you think you can do to solve the dilemma which seems very real to you, but which does not exist. You have come close to truth, and only this stands between you and the bridge that leads you into it.
Heaven waits silently, and your creations are holding out their hands to help you cross and welcome them. For it is they you seek. You seek but for your own completion, and it is they who render you complete. T315/339
The bridge that leads to union in
yourself must lead to knowledge, for it was built with God
beside you, and will lead you straight to Him where your completion rests,
wholly compatible with His. Every illusion you accept into your mind by judging
it to be attainable removes your own sense of completion, and thus denies the
Wholeness of your Father. T316/339
If special relationships of any
kind would hinder God's completion, can they have any value to you? What would
interfere with God must interfere with you. Only in time does interference in
God's completion seem to be possible. The bridge that He would carry you across
lifts you from time into eternity. Waken from time, and answer fearlessly the
call of Him Who gave eternity to you in your creation. On this side of the
bridge to timelessness you understand nothing. But as you step lightly across
it, upheld by timelessness, you are directed straight to
the Heart of God. At its center, and only there, you are safe forever, because
you are complete forever. There is no veil the Love of God in us together cannot
lift. The way to truth is open. Follow it with me. T316F/340
You will cross the bridge into
reality simply because you will recognize that God is on the other side, and
nothing at all is here. It is impossible not to make the natural decision as
this is realized. T320/344
You see the world you value. On
this side of the bridge you see the world of separate bodies, seeking to join
each other in separate unions and to become one by losing. When two individuals
seek to become one, they are trying to decrease their magnitude. Each would deny
his power, for the separate union excludes the universe. Far more is left
outside than would be taken in, for God is left without and nothing
taken in. If one such union were made in perfect faith, the universe would enter
into it. Yet the special relationship the ego seeks does not include even one
whole individual. The ego wants but part of him, and sees only this part and
nothing else.
Across the bridge it is so different! For a time the body is still seen, but not exclusively, as it is seen here. The little spark that holds the Great Rays within it is also visible, and this spark cannot be limited long to littleness. Once you have crossed the bridge, the value of the body is so diminished in your sight that you will see no need at all to magnify it. For you will realize that the only value the body has is to enable you to bring your brothers to the bridge with you, and to be released together there.
The bridge itself is nothing more than a transition in the perspective of reality. On this side, everything you see is grossly distorted and completely out of perspective. What is little and insignificant is magnified, and what is strong and powerful cut down to littleness. In the transition there is a period of confusion, in which a sense of actual disorientation may occur. But fear it not, for it means only that you have been willing to let go your hold on the distorted frame of reference that seemed to hold your world together. This frame of reference is built around the special relationship. Without this illusion there could be no meaning you would still seek here. T321f/345f
The new perspective you will gain
from crossing over will be the understanding of where Heaven is.
From this side, it seems to be outside and across the bridge. Yet as you
cross to join it, it will join with you and become one with you. And you will
think, in glad astonishment, that for all this you gave up nothing!
T323/347
The bridge between that world and
this is so little and so easy to cross, that you could not believe it is the
meeting place of worlds so different. Yet this little bridge is the strongest
thing that touches on this world at all. This little step, so small it has
escaped your notice, is a stride through time into eternity, beyond all ugliness
into beauty that will enchant you, and will never cease to cause you wonderment
at its perfection. T328f/353
What better way to close the little
gap between illusions and reality than to allow the memory of God to flow across
it, making it a bridge an instant will suffice to reach beyond? For God has
closed it with Himself. His memory has not gone by, and left a stranded Son
forever on a shore where he can glimpse another shore that he can never reach.
His Father wills that he be lifted up and gently carried over. He has built the
bridge, and it is He Who will transport His Son across it. Have no fear that He
will fail in what He wills. Nor that you be excluded from the Will that is for
you. T550/592
God builds the bridge, but only in
the space left clean and vacant by the miracle. The seeds of sickness and the
shame of guilt He cannot bridge, for He can not destroy the alien will that He
created not. Let its effects be gone and clutch them not with eager hands, to
keep them for yourself. The miracle will brush them all aside, and thus make
room for Him Who wills to come and bridge His Son's returning to Himself.
T554/597
What can the body mean to Him Who
knows the glory of the Father and the Son? What whispers of the ego can He hear?
What could convince Him that your sins are real? Let Him be Judge as well of
everything that seems to happen to you in this world. His lessons will enable
you to bridge the gap between illusions and the truth. W272/279
Christ's vision is the bridge between the worlds. And in its power can you safely trust to carry you from this world into one made holy by forgiveness. Things which seem quite solid here are merely shadows there; transparent, faintly seen, at times forgot, and never able to obscure the light that shines beyond them. Holiness has been restored to vision, and the blind can see. W293/300
Peace is the bridge that everyone
will cross, to leave this world behind. But peace begins within the world
perceived as different, and leading from this fresh perception to the gate of
Heaven and the way beyond. Peace is the answer to conflicting goals, to
senseless journeys, frantic, vain pursuits, and meaningless endeavors. Now the
way is easy, sloping gently toward the bridge where freedom lies within the
peace of God. W375/385
The Holy Spirit mediates between
illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap between reality and
dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the grace that God has given Him,
to be His gift to everyone who turns to Him for truth. Across the bridge that He
provides are dreams all carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light
of knowledge. There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they
were perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception's tranquil end.
W427/437
Forgiveness is a symbol, too, but
as the symbol of His Will alone it cannot be divided. And so the Unity that it
reflects becomes His Will. It is the only thing still in the world in part, and
yet the bridge to Heaven. M79/83