Sunday Pep Talk: Manuel For Teachers #4 continued: Defenselessness, Generosity, Patience and Faithfulness

Class notes 9/13/26

Sunday Pep Talk

What are the Characteristics of God’s Teachers? MFT #4 continued, Defenselessness, Generocity, Patience, and Faithfulness

Defenselessness:

          God’s teachers have learned how to be simple. Meaning not complicated or elaborate. As teachers of God (TOGs) we work to eliminate what is not working toward the goal from our lives. We eliminate the superfluous.  They are not trying to make themselves into anything so they don’t need to defend dreams about themselves. Their joy comes from knowing who created them and what their natural inheritance as a Son of God (SOG) is. Nothing that God created needs defense and nothing else exists. Advanced TOGs understand that defenses are foolish. Nothing real can be threatened. Defenses guard the illusion, Jesus on the cross is an extreme demonstration of this. The more bizarre and ugly the dream, the fiercer and more powerful its defenses seem. Yet when a TOG looks past the defenses he finds that nothing was there. All bark no bite. Slowly at the beginning the TOG starts to see things as they are and to look past the illusion. But he learns faster as his trust increases. Here we are going back to the foundation of trust that everything else rests on. It is not dangerous when defenses are laid down. It is safe. It is peaceful. It is Joy. It is God.

Generocity:

          The word generosity has special meaning to the TOG. This is not the usual definition of the word. In fact the meaning in ACIM must be learned carefully. Like all other attributes of TOGs this lays on a foundation of trust. Without trust you can’t be generous in the true sense. To the world generosity means giving away like giving up. To the TOG it means giving away in order to keep. This has been emphasized in the text and the workbook but it’s more alien to the thinking of the world than the other ideas in this Course. The strangeness is obvious, it’s the opposite of the world's way of thinking. The word means the exact opposite to TOGs and to the world. This is a real reversal of the world’s way of thinking and it may take a minute to wrap your mind around. 

          The TOG is generous out of self interest. This is not self interest in terms of the world’s goals. The TOG does not want anything that he can’t give away because it would be valueless to him. The toys of the world are valueless. What could he want? He would only lose by striving for these things.  He knows that he wouldn’t gain. So he does not seek for anything that he couldn’t keep. Meaning he doesn’t seek for things of the illusion. He seeks the gifts of God and these are not selfish gifts. So he is not attached to the things of the world no matter what he has. Give up your investment in worldly things. Invest in the things of the kingdom and what is meaningful beyond the veil. This he gives with true generosity so he can keep it for himself. 

Patience:

          If you are certain of the outcome, waiting without anxiety is no problem. Patience is natural to a TOG. He sees a certain outcome, maybe he doesn’t know the time, but the end is not in doubt. The time will be as right as the answer. The time, you pick the time, if you look for it you will find it. There are different valid paths for different children of God. ACIM is one such path. It is not for everyone. But if it’s for you, you will come boomeranging back to it. Everything that happens now and in the future, if the end is certain then you can afford patience. The past held no mistakes, nothing except the mistakes that Jesus can use for his own purposes. For the benefit of the world and the person who it seems to be happening to. 

          The TOG is willing to reconsider all of his past behaviors if they did harm to anyone. Meaning we will uproot the behavior or thought and move forward. Pick up your cross and follow me, uproot error and follow Jesus’ advice. Again the foundation is trust. Patience is natural for those who trust. The ultimate interpretation is that we are all sinless, holy, and innocent. If you trust this, no outcome yet to come can cause you fear. TOGs trust the plan. 

Faithfulness:

          Your faith in God, the Course, and the plan. Jesus is a measure of your advancement. Do you apply the workbook to some aspects of your life and not others? What are you holding back? Your advancement is limited by your trust. You need a foundation that is firmly established. The TOG has faith that the word of God will set all things right. Not some things but everything will be reconciled. Faithfulness starts by bringing this to some things, keeping it limited for a time. To give up all problems to one answer is to reverse the world’s thinking entirely. That alone believing in the one answer is faith. Nothing else deserves a name. Yet each degree you get towards that goal is worth achieving. Readiness is not mastery. We practice.

          True faithfulness does not deviate or get off track. It is wholly consistent and honest. It is unswerving because it rests on the foundation of trust. Where love is all encompassing there is no room for fear. Since it is fearless, it is gentle, there is no attack. It is certain so it is joyous. It is fearless so it is gentle. It is confident so it is tolerant. It is naturally defenseless and joy is the condition because arms have been laid down. So faithfulness combines with the other attributes of TOGs. It implies acceptance of the word of God and His definition of his son. Faithfulness is always directed towards God and the oneness of His children. It looks towards God and the altars He created until he finds what he was looking for. Having found what he was looking for he waits in quiet certainty of the outcome. This is the vision and the oneness that we are faithful to.