Healing Is Accomplished the Instant the Sufferer No Longer Sees Any Value in Pain

Reflections from A Course in Miracles (T-5.VI.1:1)

The Shift That Heals

“Healing is accomplished the instant the sufferer no longer sees any value in pain.”At first glance, this may sound almost impossible — who would ever value pain? Yet A Course in Miracles gently asks us to look more deeply into the hidden places of the mind, where pain has become familiar, meaningful, or even purposeful.

The Course teaches that healing is not a change in the body, but a change in the mind’s perception. Pain — whether physical, emotional, or psychological — is not sent by God, nor is it a test or punishment. It is simply the effect of a mistaken belief: the belief that we are separate from Love.

Healing occurs the moment we release our investment in that belief.

The Hidden Value We Give to Pain

It can be uncomfortable to admit, but part of the ego’s identity depends on pain. Pain can seem to offer:

• Proof that the body and the world are real.

• A sense of individuality (“my suffering is unique”).

• A false justification for resentment or guilt.

• Evidence that we’ve been wronged, or that others owe us care.

In this way, the ego gives pain a kind of value. It uses pain to maintain the illusion of separation — the idea that we are victims of a world outside our control.

But the Holy Spirit, the quiet Voice of Love within us, offers another perspective: nothing real can be threatened, and nothing unreal exists. Pain, in this light, is not an attack but a misunderstanding. It does not require punishment or endurance — only a gentle willingness to see differently.

The Instant of Healing

The Course uses the word instant deliberately. Healing does not take time. It happens in the holy instant — the moment we no longer believe that pain has meaning or purpose.

That instant may look simple:

• A shift from anger to forgiveness.

• A quiet acceptance that the body’s state does not define us.

• A choice to rest the mind in peace, even amid discomfort.

In that moment, the mind releases its grasp on illusion.The pain may or may not still appear at the level of the body, but its power to define or disturb you dissolves.You remember: I am as God created me — whole, innocent, and at peace.

How to Practice This

When pain or illness arises, try pausing for a moment of stillness. You might say softly:

“This pain does not define me.My spirit is whole, untouched, and forever one with God. I no longer see value in this suffering. I choose peace instead.”

Then breathe. Feel what happens inside. The body may remain as it is for now, but something deeper — the mind that once believed in the pain’s meaning — begins to let go.

This is healing. Not a process, but a remembrance.

A Different Kind of Strength

True strength is not found in resistance or endurance. It is found in the quiet willingness to see pain as meaningless — not because we are denying the body’s sensations, but because we are remembering that we are not the body.

The peace that follows is not something achieved; it is something revealed. It was always there, beneath the veil of fear.

“Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” — A Course in Miracles, Introduction

Healing, then, is not about changing what is unreal, but about remembering what is real. Pain loses its hold the moment we realize it has no purpose, and in that recognition, we awaken to the Love that never left us.