Bill had said that a central point of the Course could be summed in the question: "Are you willing to see your brother sinless?"

There is a story about this which has often been repeated since it was first told by Judy Skutch

On one occasion Judy experienced powerful feelings of rage which were focused on her friend Dr. Jerry Jampolsky.  In an effort to find some peace of mind she called Bill Thetford and proceeded to describe for him all of what she perceived to be Jerry's faults. Bill listened till Judy ran out of breath and then he said quietly, "Judy, the Course can be summed up in in the question, 'Are you willing to see your brother sinless?' "

"No!" Judy screamed.  "Well, dear," Bill replied, "when you are, you will feel much better." And then he hung up.

ACIM Workbook Lesson 351

My sinless brother is my guide to peace.
My sinful brother is my guide to pain.
And which I choose to see I will behold.

Who is my brother but Your holy Son?  And if I see him sinful I proclaim myself a sinner, not a Son of God; alone and friendless in a fearful world.  Yet this perception is a choice I make, and can relinquish.  I can also see my brother sinless, as Your holy Son.  And with this choice I see my sinlessness, my everlasting Comforter and Friend beside me, and my way secure and clear.  Choose, then, for me, my Father, through Your Voice.  For He alone gives judgment in Your Name.

 

Another story about Bill concerns a time when members of an ACIM study group consulted him about a heated, acrimonious disagreement they had been having over certain passages in the Course.  They wanted Bill to settle their disagreement.  Which interpretation was correct?  How could they solve this bitter conflict?  Bill told them that he would suggest tearing the controversial pages out of the Course and discarding them.  "Nothing," he said, "is worthy to be a cause of enmity between brothers."

 

I once sent some information about the unpublished manuscripts to a person who had inquired about them.  He had learned about them from an Internet discussion group about ACIM.  In his reply to me, this ACIM student wrote as follows:

"Actually, Joe, I was a bit overwhelmed by the group. Although I find that both Students and Teachers of the Course have their own ways of learning the same lessons, which we all seem to come to in time, the politics and fighting is something which has lessened for me over the years.

Having met most of the principals involved with the Course, I'm finding that the  group denizens seem to be having a heated discussion over things I long ago moved on from.

I remember one afternoon having a discussion with Jerry Jampolsky about some such fine point of the course and being determined to get my point out and to ask why the Course was this way and not that.  Jerry shrugged and told me to go ask Bill.  Bill was having a wonderful afternoon, actually, and shared his joy and peace with me and I forgot all about the point which was so important to me.
Literally,

* I could see Peace instead of this. *

So, while I am sure that the questions and fine points of the group discussion are serving a useful purpose, the group is not for me at the present, and I no longer visit it.

 

EXCERPTS FROM A 1984 INTERVIEW WITH BILL=>

<=RETURN TO BILL THETFORD PAGE

See: "Being Kind" by Ken Wapnick

Visit "The Scribing" (See video of Thetford) - FIP Website

Is There a "Thetford Version" of A Course in Miracles?

Also Read about Dr. William Thetford and the CIA