OrEd-T-18.1-Intro-Dream and Reality
1. To substitute is to accept instead. If I considered what this entails, I would perceive how much this is at variance with the goal of the Holy Spirit and what He would accomplish for me. To substitute is to choose between, renouncing one in favor of the other. For this special purpose, one is judged more valuable and the other is replaced by him. The relationship becomes fragmented, parts of the relationship are excluded, and its purpose is split accordingly. Substitution is the strongest defense the ego has for separation.
2. The Holy Spirit never uses substitutes. Where the ego perceives one person as a replacement for another, the Holy Spirit sees them joined and indivisible. He does not judge between them, knowing they are one. Being united, they are one because they are the same. Substitution is clearly a process in which they are perceived as different. The Holy Spirit would unite, the ego would separate. Nothing can come between what God has joined and what the Holy Spirit sees as one. But everything seems to come between the fragmented relationships the ego sponsors to destroy.
3. In love, substitution is impossible. Fear involves substitution by definition, for it is love's replacement. Fear is both a fragmented and a fragmenting emotion. It seems to take many forms, and each seems to require a different form of acting out for satisfaction. While this appears to introduce quite variable behavior, a far more serious effect lies in the fragmented perception from which the behavior stems. No one is seen complete. The body is emphasized, with special emphases on certain parts, and used as the standard for comparison for either acceptance or rejection of suitability for acting out a special form of fear.
