One of the most baffling topics in A Course in Miracles, (ACIM) is the topic of time. It is difficult for us to understand because we think of time in a linear manner, going from the past to the present to the future. But ACIM tells us that time is really over, even though we seem to be experiencing it now. Moreover, time goes backwards:

“Time really, then goes backward to an instant so ancient that it is beyond all memory, and past even the possibility of remembering. Yet because it is an instant that is relived again and again and still again, it seems to be now…” Manual for Teachers, page 5.

Time came into being at the instant of the Separation from God but, because that only happened on the mental plane, we can say that is all part of the illusion. Author and ACIM teacher Dr Ken Wapnick, in his book, “A Vast Illusion – Time according to A Course in Miracles,” delves deeply into the topic of time and explains it clearly. On page 18 he says, “…we are observing what has already happened, and that what appears to us to be distinct events taking place in a linear progression of past, present, and future, are rather all present simultaneously in our minds because the whole of time occurred in one single instant. We focus directly only on segments of the total fragmentation at any given moment…” He goes on to explain that we have only two choices, namely, to follow the ego’s guidance and believe in separation, anger, attack, guilt, etc. or to follow the Holy Spirit (Who exists in the minds of everyone) and choose forgiveness. We forgive ourselves for believing it was possible to separate from God (which ACIM says is not possible) and we forgive others because all of us are merely figures in a collective dream.

It is worth reading these two lessons in the Workbook of ACIM that deal with the topic of time: Lesson 300, “Only an instant does this world endure,” And Lesson 308,  “This instant is the only time there is.”

There is a positive way of looking at the baffling topic of time in ACIM. Since time is really over and we are just clinging onto the moment we split away from Heaven and reliving memories, then it means our enlightenment and awakening from this dream is inevitable for all mankind. It is just a matter of when, not if.