The Meaning of Easter in A Course in Miracles
Easter is mentioned three times in the last two paragraphs of Workbook Lesson 135, “If I defend myself I am attacked,” which, coincidentally, is the longest lesson in the entire Course in Miracles. It is one of my absolute favourites; I could probably write several pages of insight about this one lesson because it contains so much. It is presented as a giant stride in the Course’s curriculum, focusing on releasing the need for defensiveness and placing trust in the Holy Spirit.
Historically, Easter and spring are times of renewal and new growth. To Christians, Easter is the time of resurrection. In A Course in Miracles, it symbolizes changing your mind.
To summarize the lesson: if I defend myself in any way, I am actually attacking trust and truth. Although defences promise safety, they always stem from fear and can produce nothing else. Years ago, my all-time favourite paragraph in the Course came from this lesson and has remained my favourite to this day. It’s the first of the two I’m quoting below; I’ve changed the narrative from second person to first.
What could I not accept if I but knew that everything that happens - all events past, present, and to come - are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is my good. Perhaps I have misunderstood His plan. For He would never offer pain to me, but my defences did not let me see His loving blessings shine in every step I ever took. While I made plans for death, He led me gently to eternal life.
My present trust in Him is the defence which promises a future undisturbed, without a trace of sorrow, and with joy which constantly increases, as this life becomes a holy instant, set in time but heading only toward immortality. Let no defences but my present trust direct the future, and this life becomes a meaningful encounter with the truth that only my defences would conceal.
ACIM, W, L135, 18–19
If the above is true for me, then it must be true for everyone, and it must be true all the time, whether I am aware of it or not. If I accept this one invitation to think differently, I believe I would experience living in heaven here on earth. What most people don’t realize is that making plans can be a defence - a form of trying to control future events. That means I don’t trust that everything is taken care of, including me. Trust would solve every problem I have now.
This one change of mind - a different way of thinking and acting - is the resurrection. It is the rebirth that changes everything, inside and out. This is the meaning of Easter.
Happy Easter.
