“Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” — A Course in Miracles
Take a moment to reflect on that quote. Write it down and set it aside for now, but keep it in your mind as we dive deeper into this exploration. It holds the key to unlocking a new perspective—one that challenges everything we think we know about the world and our place in it.
The Madness of the World
We live in a world that often feels like a whirlwind of chaos and confusion. It’s maddening, isn’t it? The constant noise, the relentless bombardment of bad news, the conflicts, the fear. The world seems to be crumbling around us, and we can’t seem to make sense of it all. Sometimes, it feels like the only response is to scream out in frustration.
Much like the iconic scene from Network, where the protagonist, Howard Beale, declares:
“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
It’s a sentiment that rings true for so many of us today. But in this chaotic, tumultuous environment, where do we go from here?
Let’s look at something that gets me really fired up—the medical profession and Big Pharma. The sad reality is that the medical industry thrives on keeping people sick. It has created a system where treatment is ongoing, not because it truly heals, but because it profits from maintaining the illness. The system is rigged. Doctors are often trapped in a framework where they must treat symptoms, not causes, because the moment a cure is found, the revenue stream dries up. Big Pharma, meanwhile, has zero incentive to find cures—its only goal is to sell more drugs, to keep people coming back for more medication, to keep the symptoms suppressed rather than healed. If people got healed, the business model collapses.
And that, my friends, is only part of what makes us mad. So, are you sufficiently pissed off at this point? Good. Now, we can start to make sense of all this.
Revisiting the Quote: “Nothing Real Can Be Threatened”
Now, take a moment to grab your paper again and look at the first sentence you wrote down: “Nothing real can be threatened.” Take a deep breath and reflect on it. Now, I want you to make a list of all the things in your life that make you feel threatened. Really dig deep. Think about your personal experiences, the world around you, and everything that keeps you up at night.
Here are a few examples to get you started:
- Political unrest and the state of the world
- Fear of illness, especially with the healthcare system failing us
- Financial instability and the struggle to make ends meet
- The fear of losing loved ones or not having enough time with them
- The pressure of societal expectations and constant comparison
- The existential dread of the meaninglessness we sometimes feel
Pretty scary stuff, huh? These are the threats that we face daily—the things that eat at our peace, fill us with anxiety, and make us question the very fabric of our existence. But now, let’s look at the next line from A Course in Miracles:
“Nothing unreal exists.” (T-1.III.5:1)
The Holy Hand Grenade: The Illusion of Fear
Here’s where we drop a Holy Hand Grenade. Monty Python, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, gives us the famous line about the “holy hand grenade,” a ridiculous yet powerful object used to solve a serious problem. Much like that absurd “holy hand grenade,” we need to drop a Holy Hydrogen Bomb here to destroy a myth: Everything on your list—the fear, the suffering, the chaos—doesn’t really exist. It’s all an illusion. It is a creation of a conflicted, tortured mind.
The chaos, the fear, the doubt, the suffering we experience in the world—it’s all a product of our own making. All of it stems from one tiny, mad idea, a belief that we could separate ourselves from the perfect oneness in God. Let’s bring in a powerful quote from A Course in Miracles that perfectly encapsulates this:
“Into eternity, where all is one, there crept a tiny mad idea, at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh. In his forgetting, it became a serious idea, and thus was the world born. The world, which was the world of separation, of fear, of suffering, of pain, was born from that one idea. That tiny mad idea was the belief in separation.” (T-27.VIII.6:1-4)
That belief—that tiny, mad idea—is the root of all the chaos we see around us. We took that idea seriously. And from that ONE mistake, all the suffering in the world emerged. But the good news is, this mistake is not real. It was a tiny, mad idea that we took far too seriously.
Laughter and Release: The Solution
So, what’s the solution? Should we just laugh it off and dismiss it? Yes, but more than that. The real solution is to release the mistake. The mistake was believing in separation. And the cure is to remember that we are not separate. We are part of the whole. We are part of God, of Love, of the Universe.
Can you change the world you see? No. But what if the world you see is just a reflection of your mind? Can you change how you see it? Absolutely.
There’s another beautiful quote from A Course in Miracles that will help drive this point home:
“Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world.” (T-21.In.1:7)
Changing Your Mind, Not the World
The world may remain the same, but how you perceive it and how you respond to it is entirely in your hands. Your mind is the only thing in this world that you can change. It’s the only thing that you truly control.
Right now, we are “out of our minds,” but not in the way most people think. When we say “out of our minds,” we usually mean that we’ve lost our sanity, but I’m not talking about that. What I’m saying is that we are “out of our Mind”—the Mind of God, the Universal Mind, the Infinite. We are temporarily absent from the pure, loving, eternal Mind that created us like Itself. And it is only in this absence that all the fear, confusion, and suffering exist.
But here’s the good news: we don’t have to stay absent. We can show up. We can wake up. And in that waking, we will find peace.
The Insane Dream of Chaos: Waking Up
We’re living in an insane dream, one that feels real but isn’t. We’re trapped in a story we’ve been telling ourselves, and it’s time to wake up. When we wake up, we’ll realize that Heaven wasn’t a place to go, but a state of mind. And this state of mind has always been here. It’s always been available to us.
This brings us back to that final line from A Course in Miracles:
“Herein lies the peace of God.” (T-3.VII.7:2)
The Peace of God: A Choice
There is a wonderful story from Sandy Levey-Lunden’s book I Just Want Peace? It describes the answer from a homeless man she encounters with a sign that says “Help me”. Curious, she asks, “What do you want?” She assumes the usual… money, food, booze, but he simply says, “I just want peace.” It’s a heartbreaking statement, yet a powerful one. We all want peace, but we get lost in the chaos. But here’s the truth: the peace of God has always been here. It’s been hidden by the noise and the illusions of the ego—the ego that is always lying to us, convincing us that peace is unattainable.
The peace of God is already here, and it’s available to you. To me. To all of us. But the choice is yours: will you choose peace over chaos? Silence over noise? Will you take the red pill or the blue pill?
It’s not an easy choice. It’s not a decision the world wants you to make. The chorus of voices in your head—voices filled with fear, doubt, and judgment—will tell you not to choose peace. But it only takes a little willingness. A single miniscule step towards the peace of God. And the rest will be handled by the “helper who has never left you.” As A Course in Miracles reminds us:
“I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (T-9.VII.10:5)
Conclusion: The Peace of God Awaits
So, will you take the chance? Will you make that tiny, willing step towards the peace of God? The peace that’s always been here, hidden beneath the noise of the world? It’s waiting for you, ready to be embraced.
All it takes is a little willingness, and the rest will follow.
robert@dinojamesbooks.com