VII. The Body as a Means of Communication, P 5
5 Yet all loss comes only from your own misunderstanding. Loss of any kind is impossible. But when you look upon a brother as a physical entity, his power and glory are “lost” to you and so are yours. You have attacked him, but you must have attacked yourself first. Do not see him this way for your own salvation, which must bring him his. Do not allow him to belittle himself in your mind, but give him freedom from his belief in littleness, and thus escape from yours. As part of you, he is holy. As part of me, you are. To communicate with part of God Himself is to reach beyond the Kingdom to its Creator, through His Voice which He has established as part of you.
Journal
Jesus is telling me a lot in this short paragraph.
Loss is impossible.
I can believe I am lost when I think of my brother as a physical entity.
We are holy.
We are part of each other and part of Jesus.
We communicate with God Himself through His Voice which is part of us.
Someone I know was behaving badly. I saw the behavior but I didn’t believe it. I know this is not who he is, but is just a reaction to the fear thoughts in his mind. I didn’t correct him or berate him. I didn’t judge him, even in my thoughts. I didn’t attack him because I wasn’t, in that moment, attacking myself. I felt close to God and so close to the truth of my own power and glory.
My steadfast belief in myself made it possible for me to hold that same certainty for my friend, and helped him return to peace. Whether he is aware of it or not, he experienced a shift that will help him the next time his fear thoughts are triggered. My decision to see the truth instead of the confusion that his fear thoughts were causing strengthened my own faith. Now it will be easier to make that same decision the next time I am faced with a choice about how to see my brother.
My eyes show me a physical entity with all the frailties that go with the belief that using a body is the same thing as being a body. I can choose to believe what I see, or I can choose to believe what I know. Each time I choose to use my spiritual vision I come closer to full remembrance of my true nature. Remembering that to do less is an attack on both myself, and my brother, motivates me to be vigilant in my choices.
When I first started the study of A Course in Miracles I was not comfortable with the idea of communicating with God. I was too afraid, too full of self-loathing. I liked the idea of communicating with the Holy Spirit. This seemed safer. But now, with more mind healing and less fear I am ready to accept that the Holy Spirit is the Voice for God, that when I speak to the Holy Spirit I am speaking to God, and that when the Holy Spirit speaks to me, God is speaking to me.
I am not alone in returning my mind to the Kingdom. I am fully joined with all my brothers, including Jesus. I am also joined with God, through the Holy Spirit which He placed in my mind for that purpose. How could I experience loss of any kind except that I choose to willfully turn from my own power and glory? Alone I can do nothing, but then I am never alone, and in my true Self, which includes my brothers and my Father, I can do all things.