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Study of Manual for Teachers7-19-12

7-18-12
4 The face of Christ has to be seen before the memory of God can return. The reason is obvious. Seeing the face of Christ involves perception. No one can look on knowledge. But the face of Christ is the great symbol of forgiveness. It is salvation. It is the symbol of the real world. Whoever looks on this no longer sees the world. He is as near to Heaven as is possible outside the gate. Yet from this gate it is no more than just a step inside. It is the final step. And this we leave to God.

I am not sure what it means to see the face of Christ. If it means that we see everyone as innocent, I have experienced this and more and more often. I still see with ego at times, but this is changing. If it means I see light where there was once form, then I have not yet had this experience.

I am still at the work conference and still watching my mind. Yesterday my prayer was to remember my purpose all day long. I asked Holy Spirit to show me how God would have love each person I meet during the day.  As the day wore on and hundreds of people came by my booth, I forgot about the prayer, but Holy Spirit did not.

I had many loving encounters and while I did not think much about them at the time, now that I review the day I see that they were different than they might have been in the past. My attention was fully given to the one in front of me. When I asked about them, I listened and cared. Even if our encounter was brief, my smile and handshake was sincere. I mentioned to someone that this was the best conference yet, and I am sure that it is my joy in serving my true purpose that makes it feel so.

I ran into my chief competitor and a fleeting thought crossed my mind, more of a feeling and I watched it, but I also noticed it held no appeal. I just didn’t care about that, didn’t have interest in seeing an enemy in my brother. I ran into a man who used to be a customer. I used to hate seeing him because every time I did, I felt like a failure and inwardly winced at the mistakes I made with his account. This time I looked up and saw him and smiled and he smiled back. We had a long conversation and then later he came by to talk some more.

I have been trying to get a new customer and at first all went very well, then suddenly he quit taking my calls. This had really bothered me at the time and I would go over and over in my mind what I could have done differently and worried over what it meant. I felt resentment because of the way he acted and thought how rude he was. When I saw him all of that history went briefly through my mind, but I just couldn’t care. I don’t mean I knew I shouldn’t care and so I suppressed my feelings or hid from my thoughts; I just didn’t care.

I treated him like none of that mattered because it didn’t. Before the day was out he was smiling at me, and seeking eye contact. It is so easy to heal a relationship when the desire is pure. I don’t care whether he ever buys from me. I don’t care if he avoids me. I don’t care if he doesn’t like me. I don’t need anything from him, and in that holy place, all is healed and I am glad for his presence. Is that seeing the face of Christ, I wonder.

The night ended late and usually I am exhausted by that time, dead on my feet. But last night I was just tired and ready to go to bed. I do not doubt that the stress of seeing my brothers as enemies and plotting strategies of defense is what wore me out in the past. A simple prayer, truly meant, made all the difference in the world. Those were just a few of the encounters I had and some of them, while not appearing unusual on the surface, were truly miraculous in the sense that grievances were laid aside and love was exchanged. And only my desire was asked of me, the miracle did the rest. Thank you, thank you, God.

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