We Make What We Defend Against

The following is an excerpt from the book on forgiveness that I am writing.  One of my favorite teachings from A Course in Miracles is on defensiveness vs. defenselessness.  I would love to hear your feedback on this...

Not only do our defenses reinforce our vulnerability, but they also make the very things that we are defending against.  In Lesson 170 of A Course in Miracles (“There is no cruelty in God and none in me”) we read, “You make what you defend against, and by your own defense against it is it real and inescapable.  Lay down your arms, and only then do you perceive it false.”  To understand better what this passage means, contemplate the following:

The defense that I would make against terrorism makes terrorism real and inescapable.

The defense that I would make against attack makes attack real and inescapable.

The defense that I would make against sickness makes sickness real and inescapable.

The defense that I would make against war makes war real and inescapable.

The defense that I would make against anger makes anger real and inescapable.

The defense that I would make against harm makes harm real and inescapable.

It is only when I lay down my arms – my defenses – that I perceive terrorism, attack, sickness, war, anger and harm as false.

To make this more personal for you, think about what you try to defend against.  What is it that you are trying to keep away, to avoid, to eradicate, to escape, to protect yourself from?  Place what you are trying to defend against in the blanks below:

The defense that I would make against  ___________  makes  ___________  real and inescapable.

It is only when I lay down my arms that I perceive  ___________  as false.

In what ways does your defense bring about the very thing that you are defending against?  How is your defense making it “real and inescapable”?  Can you see how laying down your arms – how laying down your defense – allows you to perceive what you defend against as false?  Without your defense against it, it is no longer real.  It loses its power over you and your life.