The second obstacle to peace: the belief the body is valuable for what it offers (C.19.IV.B)

The second obstacle is a rough one. Let’s be honest. The Course doesn’t just poke at the ego here, it throws the curtain wide open. And behind that curtain? Not the powerful self we thought we were, but… a confused identification with a body.

Yes, that’s right. The Course dares to say what most of us don’t even question: that our sense of “I” is entirely wrapped up in this body,

in what it looks like, what it does, what it gives, and how it performs. And when that belief is challenged, it can feel like someone just cut the legs out from under you.

I almost hear you say: What? If I’m not this body…how do I even walk?

Let’s slow down. This isn’t about denying the body, or pretending it doesn’t exist. The Course isn’t asking you to throw away your shoes, your mirror, or your candies. It’s simply asking a deeper question:

What do you believe the body is for?

Because here’s the point: if you believe the body is valuable for what it offers : comfort, pleasure, safety, validation, power….

then you’ve placed your peace in something that will always shift, age, break, and disappoint.

And that belief becomes an obstacle. Not because the body is bad, but because you’ve given it a job it can’t fulfill.

The Course calls this a form of sacrifice. Not because you gave up chocolate or a good massage, but because you traded eternal peace for something temporary. That’s the only real “sacrifice”….and it happens every time we forget who we are.

But don’t worry. This isn’t a lecture. Let’s look at an example.

Imagine someone who has had ten cosmetic surgeries, owns 136 pairs of shoes, and plans their week around workouts, body scans, and selfies.

Is that evil? No. Is that wrong? Not at all. It’s just… a little exhausting. Because the underlying belief is: “If I just get this body perfect, I will be enough.”

But the body cannot carry the weight of that question.

It was never meant to.

The Course invites us gently…and sometimes with a bit of divine sarcasm…

to stop asking the body to be our source of happiness. It can’t. It doesn’t know how. But it can become a means for something higher. A way to smile, to touch, to communicate light. A way to share the peace that already lives in the mind.

Even discomfort, illness, or emotional pain…the body can whisper :

“Something in the mind is calling for healing.”

In this way, the body becomes a message, not a problem.

And yes, we still walk. We still dance, eat, hug, cry. The body doesn’t vanish. It just steps off the throne. It stops being the idol and starts being the servant of something far greater.

So no, the Course doesn’t ask you to hate the body. It simply asks you to stop worshipping it. Peace is not in the form. Peace comes when you remember: You are not a body. You are free. You are still as God created you.

And with that shift, the obstacle dissolves. The legs you thought were cut from under you? They’re still there. But now, they walk in Light.

With love and light

G.