The
ego’s plan for forgiveness is far more widely used than God’s. This is because
it is undertaken by unhealed healers, and is therefore of the ego. Let us consider the
unhealed healer more carefully now. By definition, he is trying to give what he has not
received. If an unhealed healer is a theologian, for example, he may begin with the
premise, “I am a miserable sinner, and so are you.” If he is a psychotherapist,
he is more likely to start with the equally incredible belief that attack is real for both
himself and the patient, but that it does not matter for either of them.
I have
repeatedly said that beliefs of the ego cannot be shared, and this is why they are unreal.
How, then, can “uncovering” them make them real? Every healer who searches
fantasies for truth must be unhealed, because he does not know where to look for truth,
and therefore does not have the answer to the problem of healing.
There
is an advantage to bringing nightmares into awareness, but only to teach that they are not
real, and that anything they contain is meaningless. The unhealed healer cannot do this
because he does not believe it. All unhealed healers follow the ego’s plan for
forgiveness in one form or another. If they are theologians they are likely to condemn
themselves, teach condemnation and advocate a fearful solution. Projecting condemnation
onto God, they make Him appear retaliative, and fear His retribution. What they have done
is merely to identify with the ego, and by perceiving what it
does, condemn themselves because of this confusion. It is understandable that there have
been revolts against this concept, but to revolt against it is still to believe in it.
Some
newer forms of the ego’s plan are as unhelpful as the older ones, because form does
not matter and the content has not changed. In one of the newer forms, for example, a
psychotherapist may interpret the ego’s symbols in a nightmare, and then use them to
prove that the nightmare is real. Having made it real, he then attempts to dispel its
effects by depreciating the importance of the dreamer. This would be a healing approach if
the dreamer were also identified as unreal. Yet if the dreamer is equated with the mind,
the mind’s corrective power through the Holy Spirit is denied. This is a
contradiction even in the ego’s terms, and one which it usually notes even in its
confusion.
If the
way to counteract fear is to reduce the importance of the mind, how can this build ego
strength? Such evident inconsistencies account for why no one has really explained what
happens in psychotherapy. Nothing really does. Nothing real has happened to the unhealed
healer, and he must learn from his own teaching. His ego will always seek to get something
from the situation. The unhealed healer therefore does not know how to give, and
consequently cannot share. He cannot correct because he is not working correctively. He
believes that it is up to him to teach the patient what is real, although he does not know
it himself.
What,
then, should happen? When God said, “Let there be light,” there was
light. Can you find light by analyzing darkness, as the psychotherapist does, or like the
theologian, by acknowledging darkness in yourself and looking for a distant light to
remove it, while emphasizing the distance? Healing is not mysterious. Nothing will change
unless it is understood, since light is understanding. A
“miserable sinner” cannot be healed without magic, nor can an “unimportant
mind” esteem itself without magic.
Both
forms of the ego’s approach, then, must arrive at an impasse; the characteristic
“impossible situation” to which the ego always leads. It may help someone to
point out where he is heading, but the point is lost unless he is also helped to change
his direction. The unhealed healer cannot do this for him, since he cannot do it for
himself. The only meaningful contribution the healer can make is to present an example of
one whose direction has been changed for him, and who no longer
believes in nightmares of any kind. The light in his mind will therefore answer the
questioner, who must decide with God that there is light because
he sees it. And by his acknowledgment the healer knows it is there. That is how perception
ultimately is translated into knowledge. The miracle worker begins by perceiving light,
and translates his perception into sureness by continually extending it and accepting its
acknowledgment. Its effects assure him it is there.
A
therapist does not heal; he lets healing be. He can point to darkness but he cannot bring
light of himself, for light is not of him. Yet, being for him, it
must also be for his patient. The Holy Spirit is the only Therapist. He makes healing
clear in any situation in which He is the Guide. You can only let Him fulfill His
function. He needs no help for this. He will tell you exactly what to do to help anyone He
sends to you for help, and will speak to him through you if you do not interfere. Remember
that you choose the guide for helping, and the wrong choice will not help. But remember
also that the right one will. Trust Him, for help is His function, and He is of God. As
you awaken other minds to the Holy Spirit through Him, and not yourself, you will
understand that you are not obeying the laws of this world. But the laws you are obeying
work. “The good is what works” is a sound though insufficient statement. Only
the good can work. Nothing else works at all.
This
course offers a very direct and a very simple learning situation, and provides the Guide
Who tells you what to do. If you do it, you will see that it works. Its results are more
convincing than its words. They will convince you that the words are true. By following
the right Guide, you will learn the simplest of all lessons: