This Week’s ACIM Essays: Guidance, Time, Choice, and Method
Wednesday January 28, 2026
These are the five Course-related essays I published this past week. All five orbit a single set of questions: guidance, time, choice, and how A Course in Miracles actually operates as a teaching system, rather than as a collection of metaphysical slogans. These are the issues currently occupying my attention as my study of ACIM continues.
The first two essays are the primary substantive pieces. The third is a natural addendum to the second, extending its discussion of guidance through Helen Schucman’s personal notes. The fourth essay on meta-analysis is my attempt to describe the depth of meaning embedded in the Course’s structural design and teaching method. The fifth essay arose from my surprise at encountering what initially appeared to be a direct contradiction in the Course’s teaching, and my effort to understand how that tension is resolved.
I hope you enjoy these essays and find them useful, as I have.
If you wish to share these essays or this email, please feel free to do so. If you have comments or questions, you are welcome to post them. I read each one and respond when time permits.
Thomas Fox, J.D. - Lake Cumberland, Kentucky
The Script Is Written
Lesson 158 contains the phrase “the script is written.” Many ACIM students want to read this as the Course signaling support for the idea of predestination, and that every detail of our lives is known and scripted in advance. I examine and propose an alternate explanation.
Miracle Principle 4 - Part IV
“His Voice will direct you very specifically” would typically be heard in personal, relational terms. This essay continues my close examination of the Miracle Principles with a preliminary discussion of communications from higher mind, as presented by ACIM.
Higher Shopping Service
The Course’s scribe, Helen Schucman, kept notes of her personal daily guidance. This guidance included New York City shopping for clothing and jewelry. These notes were edited out of ACIM itself, but the notes were preserved and made public. I have analyzed how Helen’s unusual experience with guidance fits with the Course’s basic theory. It is a natural addendum to the discussion of guidance in Miracle Principle 4.
ACIM Meta-analysis
I may have previously mentioned my thrust to examine ACIM’s presentation structure and teaching methods. This essay is my next effort to describe much of my interests and why meta-analysis might be of value to ACIM students.
Heaven, Hell and the Holy Instant in ACIM
(ACIM states “Heaven is here and now” is taught by both the ego and by the Atonement. How is this not a contradiction? This essay examines the issue.