IV. Teaching and Healing, P 6
6 The Holy Spirit atones in all of us by undoing, and thus lifts the burden you have placed in your mind. By following Him you are led back to God where you belong, and how can you find the way except by taking your brother with you? My part in the Atonement is not complete until you join it and give it away. As you teach so shall you learn. I will never leave you or forsake you, because to forsake you would be to forsake myself and God Who created me. You forsake yourself and God if you forsake any of your brothers. You must learn to see them as they are, and understand they belong to God as you do. How could you treat your brother better than by rendering unto God the things that are God’s?
Journal
When I use the ego to do my thinking for me, I see people as their ego. I see them making mistakes and doing things wrong. I see them as guilty and from the perspective of the ego mind, my judgment seems justified and it seems indisputable. If I believe my judgment, I cannot imagine how the other person could be innocent, and though I can say they are innocent because I have been told we are all innocent, my judgment makes it impossible to believe it.
I don’t want to forsake God, I don’t want to forsake myself, therefore I cannot forsake my brothers. I understand now that my judgments are not immutable. In fact, they are not even useful, and not even true unless they reflect God’s judgment, which is that His children are innocent as they were created. This is the only thing that is true about my brothers. They are innocent.
It may be that the ego as reflected in them has made many errors and they may have been hurtful through their ego, but my brothers remain unaffected by the ego stories they seem to live. When I judge them I am giving them to the ego, seeing them imprisoned in ego, deciding they are too far gone to be anything else. In doing so, I am condemning myself to that fate as well. Where my brothers go, I go.
There is only one place I want my brothers to abide and that is in God. They may be very confused about what will save them. They may think that pain and suffering is their salvation. They may think that hurting others is what it takes to be safe. But no matter what they believe, their salvation lies in returning to their Father. They may see themselves as strong in hate, buried in self-loathing, lost in the world, but I will not join their delusion. I know who they are. As I remember their identity, I remember mine as well. In fact, it is the only way I will remember mine.
My friend has temporarily forgotten what she is. Her body is weak and sick and tired, and she thinks that is who she is. I see what is happening to her body, but I will not become confused about her identity. Her reaction to her situation would seem counterproductive, even foolish, but I will not become so confused that I will join in that assessment.
She is confused about her savior, about her will, about her purpose, but confusion is not her nature. It is a temporary ego aberration, and is meaningless. If I believe what she believes about herself, I would be giving her to the ego. I will instead give to God what is God’s as I disregard appearances and disregard my own ego voice that calls for judgment. Hand in hand we return to God. Hand in hand or not at all.