In our human existence we do not respond to anything directly. We respond to our own interpretation of anything we encounter or experience. Everything is colored through the lens of our egoic thought system which is the result of a lifetime of perceiving with our split mind. We have forfeited true perception by relying on our own efforts and denying the guidance of Spirit. We truly believe that we are judging correctly, for we believe that what we perceive on our own is true. Thus our belief that what we perceive is true justifies any response we make. This is why analyzing the motives of others is hazardous to us and our own peace of mind.
Analyzing anything from our egoic thought system is very complicated, very confusing, and never without ego involvement. The whole process represents an attempt to demonstrate our own individual ability to understand what we perceive. We then react to our interpretations as if they were real and true. Our interpretations, whether correct or not, become the justification for our reactions. We may control our reactions behaviorally, but not emotionally. This creates a split or an attack on the integrity of our minds, pitting one level within the mind against another. This can only result in conflict and any conflict within the mind is insanity.
The Curse teaches:
There is but one interpretation of motivation that makes any sense. And because it is the Holy Spirit’s judgment it requires no effort at all on your part. Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help, regardless of the form it takes. Can anyone be justified in responding with anger to another’s plea for help? No response can be appropriate except the willingness to give it to them, for this and only this is what they are asking for. Offer them anything else, and you are assuming the right to attack their reality by interpreting it as you see fit. Perhaps the danger of this to your own mind is not yet fully apparent. If you believe that an appeal for help is something else you will react to something else. Your response will therefore be inappropriate to reality as it is, but not to your perception of it. ACIM T-12.I.3.1-10
If we are aware, there is nothing that prevents us from recognizing all calls for help or love for what they are except our own belief in our own mistaken perception. Are we willing to continually maintain our “battles” with reality in which we deny the need for healing? We would never do thus except for our unwillingness to accept reality as it is, and thus withhold it from ourselves.
It is surely good advice to tell you not to judge what you do not understand. No one with a personal investment is a reliable witness, for truth to them has become what they want it to be. If you are unwilling to perceive an appeal for help as what it is, it is because you are unwilling to give help and to receive it. To fail to recognize a call for help is to refuse help. Would you maintain that you do not need it? Yet this is what you are maintaining when you refuse to recognize another’s appeal, for only by answering their appeal can you be helped. Deny them your help and you will not recognize the One’s Answer to you. Spirit does not need your help in interpreting motivation, but you do need Spirit’s. T-12.I.5.1-8
Accept Spirit’s interpretation and accept the awareness of reality into your mind. It’s already and has always been within you. We have simply been unwilling to open our minds and see the truth about ourselves. Remember, every loving thought is true. Everything else, regardless of the form it takes, is a call for healing and help – love. Accept the reality of who you are and always extend love thus opening yourself to that same love.
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