In the Bible everyone whom Jesus “healed”—overtly asked for help. I think that is striking. If they could not motion for themselves it was requested by one who spoke for them. Jesus met everyone as wishing to join Him in the Joy of his Fathers Kingdom. Either they were already reflecting this eternal truth, or by being in His Presence they desired to polish their mirror.

Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Being mistaken and happy is the fruit of Forgiveness. Accepting we have a perceptual problem is what inevitably convinces us that judgement by-us is actually impossible!

Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit,
and that your fruit should remain:
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you.
—John 15:16 (KJV)

It is in accounting for our feelings of wrongness, not justifying our goodness that Jesus welcomes us. The request is not to balance our ledger. It is not the gross product of our good works that tallies our worthiness to join in Joy, but the absence of that which would defile us. It is what we “carry over” from year to year, that condemns us. Whether we judge it profit or loss this “reckoning” is what Jesus is asking us to account for. This story of self deception that we tell annually accruing interest in our investment in being a person in a world, good or bad.

“The remains” of the day, after reviewing our books with the Holy Spirit is the joy of realizing “we cannot judge.” In thinking we can we will always be mistaken.

A split mind cannot perceive its fullness,
and needs the miracle of its wholeness
to dawn upon it and heal it.
—ACIM (T-7.IX.4:4)

God help those who believe they have personally balanced their books‚—and He does! Jesus clarifies the Way, the Truth and the Light of Forgiveness and The Holy Spirit the Voice for God offers Correction and  Comfort while the Child of God dreams of exile.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged:
and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye,
but considerest not the beam
that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye;
and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite,
first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly
to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
—Matthew 7 (King James Version)

We can only come to ask for help to take the smote out of our own eye if we have withdrawn our investment in being right. Whether the story is of victim or victimizer it is the blame; a belief in a cause other than God that condemns.

We cannot Accept that we have been forgiven for “what never happened” if we do not first see the judgement we hold. Whether we believe this verdict to be against ourselves or another it is still “self hatred” and it is this “condemnation” that we must address.

But come wholly without condemnation,
for otherwise you will believe
that the door is barred
and you cannot enter.
—ACIM (T-11.IV.6:2)

Blessed are you who are willing to ask
the truth of God without fear,
for only thus can you learn that
His answer is the release from fear.
—ACIM (T-11.VIII.7:7)

We are so focused on the judgement and duality of right and wrong, good and bad, that we fail to notice the justification we hold against ourselves. This is condemnation. This is the reason we believe “being mistaken” is unacceptable!

We double down on guilt by vowing shamefully and spitefully never to be mistaken in the same way again. We thought this was taking responsibility for our actions or inactions. But in trying to handle forgiveness by ourselves we have drawn a false conclusion and are instead suppressing and justifying the guilt and distress we feel.

By excluding the Comforter and refusing to question our verdict we ensure the condemnation never gets exposed or questioned. So sure are we of our guilt that the sheer sensation of “wrongness” can provoke extreme alarm instead of relief.

It takes some time to trust the Holy Spirit and to learn that “being mistaken” means we are merely unaware of our Innocence. Now when we rush to the Spirit with these sensations and feelings of guilt we begin to associate Correction with Comfort, and not with shame. This is the development of trust.

You cannot conceive of the real relationship
that exists between God and His creations
because of your hatred for the self you made.
—ACIM (T-4.III.4:4)

And so here stand all before Jesus possessed of roles and rules for good living that were made to condemn and banish the Holy Child by making him fearful of release. We must humbly disrobe from what we think we know and come with “wholly empty arms unto our God.”

That ye put off concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness.
—Ephesians 4:22-24, King James Version

Now is sin understood more as an error; a missing of the mark rather than a final judgement. The dictionary defines “sin” as: noun. transgression of divine law: verb. to offend against a principle, standard, etc. The only principle to which we are now devoted is “the Atonement principle.”

A miracle is a correction
introduced into false thinking by me.
It acts as a catalyst,
breaking up erroneous perception
and reorganizing it properly.
This places you under the Atonement principle,
where perception is healed.
Until this has occurred,
knowledge of the Divine Order
is impossible.
—ACIM (T-1.I.37:1-4)

“Judge not lest yee be judged.” In the Gospel when asked to comment on the woman who had been caught committing adultery, Jesus said:

He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her …
And they which heard it,
being convicted by their own conscience,
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest,
even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone,
and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had lifted up himself,
and saw none but the woman, he said unto her,
Woman, where are those thine accusers?
hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her,
Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
—John 8:9-11 (King James Version)

Her sin (mistake) was self condemnation!

ASK FOR HELP ***from Jesus. Be not convicted by your own conscience. “Consciousness is correctly identified as the domain of the ego.” Be not condemned by the ego. “Judge not”, “Be as little Children” and run to the Comforter with every smart of shame. One who knows what is wholly true!

The Course cautions us to avoid processing and mental gymnastics and to stick with the simple formula of Acceptance for Forgiveness we have been offered:

Never approach the holy instant after you have tried
to remove all fear and hatred from your mind.
That is its function.
Never attempt to overlook your guilt
before you ask the Holy Spirit’s help.
That is His function.
Your part is only to offer Him a little willingness
to let Him remove all fear and hatred,
and to be forgiven.
On your little faith,
joined with His understanding,
He will build your part in the Atonement
and make sure that you fulfill it easily.
And with Him, you will build a ladder
planted in the solid rock of faith,
and rising even to Heaven.
Nor will you use it to ascend to Heaven alone.
—ACIM (T-18.V.2:1-8)

Ask for help to be relieved when shame and self condemnation arises.

Jesus encourages us not to ask to have our fear taken away but to “ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.” (ACIM, T-2.VI.4:3)

This is the undivided dive towards the Comforter!

Love, Sarah

____________________________________

[Notes]

[1] *Out of Great Tribulation by Cicely Mary Barker, Croydon Art Collection
The painting was commissioned by Harold Watson, a well-known Croydon businessman, to be hung as the main feature in the memorial chapel in the since demolished Norbury Methodist Church. It was donated in memory of his daughter, Peggy, who died while still in her teens.

Cicely Mary Barker finished it in 1949, four years after the end of the Second World War.

After the suffering and trials of the Second World War, there is a general reconciliation with Christ. The Cross and rainbow, two Biblical symbols of salvation, dominate the top half of the painting and the radiantly white figure of Christ is central. On either side of Christ are ordinary men, women and children, who have come through the tribulation. (great trouble or suffering) Having relinquished there traditional understanding of social morality and religious right and wrong there is a general reluctance to approach Jesus.

Though his arms are stretched in welcome for all, it is only the little barefooted girl in her white robe of innocence that approaches unabashed. The stigmata of Jesus’s hands and the misunderstanding of the last useless journey to the cross seem to confirm their guilt, and the story that He died for their sins a blame and shame which keeps them away.

One soldier with bandaged head has lunged forward but now with hands clasped holds himself off a moment. Gripped in prayer for mercy he bows hi head in humbleness, afraid to approach further.

Everyone waits on the reception the little girl will receive to find their own welcome.

This is our role as Miracle workers, to Accept the atonement for ourselves by ASKING the Holy Spirit for help to lift the condemnation in the mind that brings fear of release. So that in One Holy instant, one moment free of fear we may rejoin our Brother Jesus, in Christ.

[2] ** I love this painting only discovering it today when the prayer on my heart was about: The Need To Ask Jesus for help, then discovering the very specific need with “condemnation.” “You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.” (ACIM, T-2.VI.4:3)

It has only recently been given to St Andrew’s Church on loan after residing in the city vaults beneath the Clocktower since the original church it was housed in was demolished.

[3] ***Cicely Mary Barker: Wikipeadia

Cicely Mary Barker (28 June 1895 – 16 February 1973) was an English illustrator best known for a series of fantasy illustrations depicting fairies and flowers. Barker was also a devout Anglican and donated her artworks to Christian fundraisers and missionary organizations. She produced a few Christian-themed books such as The Children’s Book of Hymns and, in collaboration with her sister Dorothy, He Leadeth Me. She designed a stained glass window for St. Edmund’s Church, Pitlake, and her painting of the Christ Child, The Darling of the World Has Come, was purchased by Queen Mary.

Barker was equally proficient in watercolour, pen and ink, oils, and pastels. Kate Greenaway and the Pre-Raphaelites were the principal influences on her work. She claimed to paint instinctively and rejected artistic theories.

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