By Gonny 
A reflection on spiritual clarity in a world that cries out for care
There’s a quiet temptation in the spiritual path, especially for students of A Course in Miracles. A temptation that whispers:
“This is all an illusion. So I don’t need to get involved.”
And while there’s truth in that… the world is a dream… this mindset can easily become a kind of spiritual escape hatch.
A cosmic version of sticking our heads in the sand.
Many people, spiritual or not, live with this silent motto:
“What I don’t see doesn’t exist. I’ll just take care of my own little circle, and let the rest go.”
And yet, every day we hear the echoes of a larger reality:
Families fleeing violence.
Workers exploited in silence.
Refugees locked behind fences.
Souls aching for dignity, safety, and belonging.
So how do we hold the truth of the Course — this is a dream — while still honoring the sacred impulse of compassion?
The dream is not denial:
Yes, the world is a projection of the mind.
Yes, fear is the root of suffering.
Yes, we are dreaming of exile.
But let us not use that teaching as a reason to ignore suffering.
Even Jesus , our model in the Course, didn’t walk through the world saying, “You’re just a dream figure. Good luck!”
He saw the suffering, and healed through love, by seeing through the illusion, not denying it.
Imagine someone fleeing war, walking across continents with a child in their arms, seeking safety, and being told:
“Sorry, this is all an illusion. You created this.”
That may be metaphysically correct…
But it’s not kind. And kindness is always the voice of Spirit.
Instead, imagine this response:
“You are my brother. I don’t know the whole story of the mind that dreamed this,
but I know that love is the answer.
How can I reflect that to you, even in small ways?”
That doesn’t mean we take on the entire world’s pain.
But it does mean we pause before turning away.
Compassion: a function, not a burden
The Course says:
“I am here only to be truly helpful.”
“I do not have to worry about what to say or do, because He Who sent me will direct me.”
You don’t have to save the world.
But you are called to see it through different eyes.
To allow your mind to be used by Love, instead of fear.
Sometimes that means writing an article.
Sometimes it means listening without fixing.
Sometimes it means offering a prayer for those you’ll never meet.
Sometimes it means saying: “This isn’t right” with gentleness and clarity.
The ego mind says:
“I’ll look away. It’s not my problem.”
The Holy Spirit says:
“Look with me, not to judge, but to heal.”
We are not asked to correct the world, but to let the world be reinterpreted.
That’s why we don’t need to follow the news obsessively or carry guilt over global suffering. But when something does touch our awareness, we ask:
“What would Love have me do here?”
And sometimes the answer is simply:
“Do not add more fear. Let compassion speak.”
Compassion is not a betrayal of the Course.
It is the flowering of it.
To say, “This is an illusion”, without compassion, is cold and incomplete.
To say, “This is an illusion, and I see your light through it”, is miraculous.
And to say, “Even when I forget the light, I am willing to remember”, is all that’s ever asked of us.
The Course doesn’t teach us to ignore suffering.
It teaches us to reinterpret it through the eyes of Christ.
You don’t have to solve anything, but you do have a voice.
And your gentle, clear, compassionate vision does heal, not through effort, but through willingness.
So if you find yourself thinking: “Shouldn’t I be doing more?”
Or
“Am I using the idea of illusion as a reason to look away?”
Just pause…
breathe…
and ask:
“Holy Spirit, how can I be truly helpful now?”
That question alone can change everything.
With love and light,
G.