…bodies are but symbols for a concrete form of fear. Fear without symbols calls for no response, for symbols can stand for the meaningless. Love needs no symbols, being true. But fear attaches to specifics [symbols], being false.
Bodies attack, but minds do not. …This is the reason bodies easily become fear’s symbols.
Who sees a brother as a body sees him as fear’s symbol.
Select one brother, symbol of the rest, and ask salvation of him. See him first as clearly as you can, in that same form to which you are accustomed. See his face, his hands and feet, his clothing. Watch him smile, and see familiar gestures which he makes so frequently. Then think of this: What you are seeing now conceals from you the sight of one who can forgive you all your sins; …Ask this of him, that he may set you free:
Give me your blessing, holy Son of God. I would behold you with the eyes of Christ, and see my perfect sinlessness in you.
And He will answer Whom you called upon. For He [Christ] will hear the Voice for God in you, and answer in your own. Behold him now, whom you have seen as merely flesh and bone, and recognize that Christ has come to you. Today’s idea is your safe escape from anger and from fear. Be sure you use it instantly, should you be tempted to attack a brother and perceive in him the symbol of your fear. And you will see him suddenly transformed from enemy to savior; from the devil into Christ. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 161, W-pI.161.5:2-5;6:1,3;8:1;11-12. See also ACIM Lesson 161 Insights.)
Our judgment of a brother depends upon perceiving Him as a body. We judge how the body looks, what it says or does. Without the body, there is nothing to judge. The truth in every brother is Love. Love has no form; it has no limits. Nothing is real except Love.
The exercise quoted above is directed to the part of our mind that believes separation and all its symbols are real. As we are willing to open our mind to Christ’s Vision in answer to our appeal for help, the Holy Spirit uses symbols to help us see past the limitations of the body.
We can only experience the blessings the Son of God offers us when we are willing to set aside our focus on the body. This willingness opens our mind to Christ’s vision, which shows us the reality of Love beyond the body form. As we accept Love’s reality, we experience Love’s blessing. Love’s peace and joy become more real to us, for we have forgiven the symbols of separation. We learn that we are all one in Love.
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