A Holy Encounter

When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself. As you think of him, you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose sight of yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet, they are given another chance at Salvation. Do not leave anyone without giving salvation to him and receiving it yourself, for I am always there with you, in remembrance of you.

The goal of the curriculum, regardless of the teacher you choose, is know thyself. There is nothing else to learn. Everyone is looking for himself and the power and the glory he thinks he has lost. Whenever you are with anyone else, you have another opportunity to find them. Your power and glory are in him because they are yours. The ego tries to find them in yourself because it does not know where to look. But the Holy Spirit teaches you that, if you look only at yourself, you cannot find yourself because that is not what you are.

Whenever you are with a brother, you are learning what you are because you are teaching what you are. He will respond either with pain or with joy, depending on which teacher you are following. He will be imprisoned or released according to your decision, And so will you. Never forget your responsibility to him because it is your responsibility to yourself. Give him his place in the Kingdom, and you will have yours. The Kingdom cannot be found alone, and you, who are the Kingdom, cannot find yourselves alone.

To achieve the goal of the curriculum, then, you cannot listen to the ego. It's purpose is to defeat its own goal. It does not know this because it does not know anything. But you can know this, and you will know it if you are willing to look at what the ego has made of you. This is your responsibility because, once you have really done this, you will accept the Atonement for yourself. What other choice could you make?

Having made this choice, you will begin to learn and understand why you have believed that, when you meet someone else, you have thought he was someone else. And every holy encounter in which you enter fully will teach you that this is not so. You can encounter only part of yourself because you are part of God, who is everything. His power and glory are everywhere and you cannot be excluded from them. The ego teaches that your strength is in you alone. The Holy Spirit teaches that all strength is in God and, therefore, in you.

God wills no one to suffer. He does not will anyone to suffer for a wrong decision you have made, including yourself. That is why He has given you the means for undoing it. Through His power and glory, all your wrong decisions are undone completely, releasing you and your brothers from every imprisoning thought any part of the Sonship has accepted. Wrong decisions have no power because they are not true. The imprisonment which they seem to produce is no more true than they are.

Power and glory belong to God alone. So do you. God gives whatever belongs to Him because He gives of Himself, and everything belongs to Him. Giving of your self is the function He gave you. Fulfilling it perfectly will teach you what you are in Him. You cannot be powerless to do this because this is your power. Glory is God's gift to you because that is what He is. See this glory everywhere to learn what you are.

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1. 1. The phrase, power and glory, are from the prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples, which is in the gospel of Matthew. The last part of the prayer is left out in Catholic versions; I am not sure why that is, but, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever," came to be known as a doxology, that is, in a liturgical service, words spoken together by the congregation.

   In The Gospel of Matthew:

   6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

   6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

   6:10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

   6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.

   6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

   6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

   A variation on this prayer was given in A Course in Miracles. Bill Thetford found this prayer quite moving and a recording of his voice reading that passage from the Course is included in the podcast.