I went to the movies, as I often did, to take advantage of the bargain matinee price. On the way home, I remembered a little bookstore I hadn’t thought of for several months, called Holistic Books and Treasures. I felt compelled to turn in that direction and pay a visit. As I walked through the door, I realized I was having another experience of light flashing in certain areas of my field of vision, and remembered that I’d meant to ask the ascended masters who visited me—Arten and Pursah—about the meaning of these occurrences.

Then I walked over to a row of books and saw A Course in Miracles. It had already occurred to me that this was probably why I was being guided to go there on this particular day. After picking it up and reading some of the pages, I saw that it was actually three books in one from the same Source — a Text, a Workbook for Students and a Manual for Teachers. I was also drawn, for no apparent reason, to another book lying near the Course called Journey Without Distance, by someone named Robert Skutch. I soon learned that this book was a brief history of how A Course in Miracles had come into being. I asked the Holy Spirit what I should do and I heard the thought, It won’t bite you.

Late that night I read some of the Text of the Course and saw for myself that the “Voice” that had dictated the material, speaking in the first person, made no apologies about the fact that he was the historical Jesus, even going so far as to clarify and correct the Bible.

I had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I was still skeptical of this really being J, who I had always thought would return in a body and not simply as a voice.

On the other hand, there was something about the inspiring nature of the calm and certain Voice that rang true for me, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on exactly why. I decided that evening, without asking the Holy Spirit, that I would do one of two things. If my future experience told me this really was J, then I’d make full use of the teachings. But if my future experience told me that things just didn’t add up, then despite Arten and Pursah’s appearances I would still do everything I could to expose A Course in Miracles as a fraud.

During these three weeks, I did a crash course in learning what I could about the books so I’d be ready to ask Arten and Pursah some questions. I read the entire Text of the Course as quickly as I could and got a general idea of what the Voice was saying. I also learned that reading it so fast was not a good way to digest the principles of the Course.

However, the ending of the Text, titled “Choose Once Again,” left me shaken with the awesome statement of what it means to choose the strength of Christ. I couldn’t recall reading anything else in my life that felt as real and true to me as this profound summary of exactly what J was asking of — and offering — his students.