The Circle

It is possible that no life has ever been as influential as his, but who was he? We believe he was a teacher who came to bring a message of love that is the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of the world. He came to show the world a way out of the madness. What is this missing piece? It starts with a new understanding of God.

Rather than preaching a wrathful and vindictive God, Jesus taught of an unconditionally loving God. He promised that, enveloped in God’s care, we can be as carefree as the lilies of the field. We can live in a state of joy and celebration regardless of our circumstances. From this place, we then can love others as God loves us, even to the point of loving our enemies.

We believe that this unconditional love—from God to us and from us to others—is what the world needs most. This is the piece it is missing. And yet, once Jesus was gone, the focus moved away from his teaching and toward the man himself. As scholars have put it, the proclaimer became the proclaimed; the iconoclast became the icon. In the process, more conventional notions of judgment, sacrifice, and hell returned to the forefront, and to a large degree Jesus’ message was lost.

We believe that he has now tried again. A Course in Miracles has touched millions of lives and has been hailed as a spiritual masterpiece. Yet we accept that it is also what it claims to be: a communication from Jesus of Nazareth through a human “scribe.” What makes this claim worth considering is the sheer genius of the Course—the mastery of its wisdom, the eloquence of its language, and the brilliance and originality of its ideas.

Like Jesus, the Course seeks to replace a God of wrath with a God of unconditional love. It promises that, because of this God, we can live in a state of joy, regardless of external difficulties. And it teaches us to respond to attack with unconditional forgiveness. It says that we can love like God loves, and that if we do, we can work miracles in the lives of others.

In many ways, A Course in Miracles seems to be Jesus’ same message expressed in new form. We believe, therefore, that within its pages is a priceless treasure: the missing piece that Jesus has been trying to give the world for two thousand years. This piece is needed now just as much as ever, for our world is still shattered by hatred and division, still desperately in need of the love that would heal it.

At the Circle of Atonement, we’ve dedicated ourselves to this vision, first and foremost by doing our utmost to honor the words of the Course. Our extensive body of work aims to draw out the life-changing meaning in its words, thus making it easier for students to reap its benefits, which the Course describes as “happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world.”

To this end, we have published a new edition of A Course in Miracles based on the original handwritten notes of Helen Schucman. By restoring deleted passages and original wording, this edition attempts to make the author’s true intent more accessible.

In addition, we seek to grow a global community that is supported by teachers, healers, and scholars, all united in walking this path together and bringing its light into the world.

Finally, the Course’s wisdom needs to be circulated widely, on both popular and academic levels, so that it can contribute to the larger conversation in our society, and we aim to assist that in happening.

Our purpose is to help it do that, to help the missing piece finally be put in place, so that unconditional love can complete the jigsaw puzzle of the world.