Healing can be defined simply as forgiveness, for no healing can be anything else. The unforgiving are sick, because they believe they are unforgiven. Only forgiveness heals an unforgiveness, and only an unforgiveness can possibly give rise to sickness of any kind. Healing occurs when we begin to question the validity of our sickness. Questioning, then, is the first step in true healing.
No one is healed alone. This realization is the final goal of all healing. The teacher sees in his student everything that he has not forgiven in himself, and is given another chance to look at it, open it to re-evaluation and forgive it. His brother is a screen for the projection of his sins, enabling him to let them go.
From the Psychotherapy Pamphlet from A Course in Miracles:
P-2.VII.1. Who, then, is the therapist, and who is the patient? 2 In the end, everyone is both. 3 He who needs healing must heal. 4 Physician, heal thyself. 5 Who else is there to heal? 6 And who else is in need of healing? 7 Each patient who comes to a therapist offers him a chance to heal himself. 8 He is therefore his therapist. 9 And every therapist must learn to heal from each patient who comes to him. 10 He thus becomes his patient. 11 God does not know of separation. 12 What He knows is only that He has one Son. 13 His knowledge is reflected in the ideal patient-therapist relationship. 14 God comes to him who calls, and in Him he recognizes Himself
There is no difference between healing and forgiveness. Overcoming guilt is the true aim of therapy and the obvious aim of forgiveness. The process that actually takes place in this relationship is actually one in which the teacher realizes that his thoughts about himself and his student are projections of ego, and that in truth, both of their perceived “sins” have been forgiven. Seeing only sinlessness, Christ’s vision heals perception and sickness disappears completely and forever, once its cause has been removed. This occurs when the teacher and student join in a holy relationship in which all sense of separation finally is overcome.
Everyone who is sent to you is your student, your partner in salvation, and your teacher. This does not mean that you select him, or that you choose what you teach and learn. But it does mean that no one comes to you by mistake. It is not up to you to decide what to teach, the Holy Spirit knows what each brother needs and He will tell you what to offer everyone who comes.
These brothers do not need to be physically present for you to help them, because in our Oneness we are connected in a very intimate way. It is essential to see that God’s gifts cannot be limited to the few brothers you actually see. Many will not need your physical presence. The old saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher appears” is true. It is also true that when the teacher is ready, the students appear. When you need them and they need you, you will find each other. You will recognize them in whatever way can be most helpful to both of you. They will be sent in whatever form is most helpful; a name, a thought, a picture, an idea, or perhaps just a feeling of reaching out to someone somewhere. It does not matter how they come. The joining is in the hands of the Holy Spirit and it cannot fail to be accomplished.
Because the Holy Relationship exists in the Holy Instant, you forget to judge your brother, and that is when healing occurs. Even if this point is never reached, healing is still inevitable, and every step toward true joining is a benefit to both. When judgment ceases, healing occurs, because only then it can be understood that there is no order of difficulty in healing. When we learn that it is no harder to wake a brother from one dream than from another, we are free to seek and hold many healing relationships with our brothers. Those who accomplish this are “the Saints of God, and the Saviors of the world.”
P-3.III.8. Physician, healer, therapist, teacher, heal thyself. 2 Many will come to you carrying the gift of healing, if you so elect. 3 The Holy Spirit never refuses an invitation to enter and abide with you. 4 He will give you endless opportunities to open the door to your salvation, for such is His function. 5 He will also tell you exactly what your function is in every circumstance and at all times. 6 Whoever He sends you will reach you, holding out his hand to his Friend. 7 Let the Christ in you bid him welcome, for that same Christ is in him as well. 8 Deny him entrance, and you have denied the Christ in you. 9 Remember the sorrowful story of the world, and the glad tidings of salvation. 10 Remember the plan of God for the restoration of joy and peace. 11 And do not forget how very simple are the ways of God:
12 You were lost in the darkness of the world until you asked for light.
13 And then God sent His Son to give it to you.
photo courtesy of Nostalgia West
