32 The way to learn to know your brother is by perceiving the Holy Spirit in him. We have already said that the Holy Spirit is the bridge or thought-transfer of perception to knowledge, so we can use the terms as if they were related because in His mind they
are. The relationship
must be in His mind because, unless it were, the separation between the two ways of thinking would not be open to healing. He is part of the Holy Trinity because His mind is partly yours and also partly God's. This needs clarification, not in statement, since we have said it before, but in
experience.
33 The Holy Spirit is the
idea of healing. Being thought, the idea
gains as it is shared. Being the Call
for God, it is also the idea
of God. Since
you are part of God, it is also the idea of
yourself as well as of all the parts of God. The idea of the Holy Spirit shares the property of other ideas because it follows the laws of the Universe of which it is a part. Therefore, it is strengthened by being given away. It increases in
you as you give it to your brothers. Since thoughts do not have to be conscious to exist, your brother does not have to be aware of the Holy Spirit either in himself or in you for this miracle to occur.
34 Your brother may have dissociated the Call for God, just as
you have. The dissociation is healed in
both of you as
you become aware of the Call for God in him and thus acknowledge its
being. There are two ways of seeing your brother which are diametrically opposed to each other. They must both be in
your mind because
you are the perceiver. They must also be in
his because you are perceiving
him. See him through the Holy Spirit in
his mind, and you will recognize Him in
yours. What you acknowledge in your brother you
are acknowledging in yourself, and what you share you strengthen.
35 The Voice of the Holy Spirit
is weak in you. That is why you
must share it. It must be
increased in strength before
you can hear it. It is impossible to hear it in yourself while it is so weak in your
own mind. It is not weak in itself, but it
is limited by your unwillingness to hear it. Will itself is an idea and is therefore strengthened by being shared. If you make the mistake of looking for the Holy Spirit in yourself alone, your meditations will frighten you because by
adopting the ego's viewpoint you are undertaking an ego-alien journey with the ego as
guide. This is
bound to produce fear.
36 Delay is of the ego because time is
its concept. Delay is obviously a time idea. Both time and delay are meaningless in eternity. We have said before that the Holy Spirit is God's
Answer to the ego. Everything of which the Holy Spirit reminds you is in direct opposition to the ego's notions because true and false perceptions are
themselves opposed. The Holy Spirit has the task of
undoing what the ego has made. He undoes it in the same realm of discourse in which the ego itself operates, or the mind would be unable to understand the change.
37 We have repeatedly emphasized that one level of the mind is not understandable to another. So it is with the ego and the Soul, with time and eternity. Eternity is an idea of God, so the Soul understands it perfectly. Time is a belief of the ego, so the lower mind, which
is the ego's domain, accepts it without question. The only aspect of time which is really eternal is
now. That is what we really mean when we say that "now is the only time." The literal nature of this statement does not mean anything to the ego, which interprets it at best to mean "don't worry about the future." That is not what it really means at all.
38 The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between the interpretations of the ego and the knowledge of the Soul. His ability to deal with symbols enables Him to work
against the ego's beliefs in its own language. His equal ability to look
beyond symbols into eternity also enables Him to understand the laws of God, for which He speaks. He can thus perform the function of
reinterpreting what the ego makes,
not by destruction but by
understanding. Understanding is light, and light leads to knowledge. The Holy Spirit is
in light because He is in you who
are light, but you yourselves do not know this. It is therefore the task of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret
you on behalf of God.
39 You cannot understand yourselves alone. This is because you have no meaning
apart from your rightful place in the Sonship and the rightful place of the Sonship in God. This is your life, your eternity, and
yourself. It is of this that the Holy Spirit reminds you. It is this that the Holy Spirit
sees. This vision invariably frightens the ego because it is so calm. Peace is the ego's greatest enemy because, according to
its interpretation of reality, war is the guarantee of its survival. The ego becomes strong in strife. If you believe there
is strife, you will react viciously because the idea of danger has entered your mind. The idea itself
is an appeal to the ego.
40 The Holy Spirit is as vigilant as the ego to the call of danger, opposing it with His strength, just as the ego
welcomes it with all its might. The Holy Spirit counters this welcome by welcoming peace. Peace and eternity are as closely related as are time and war. Perception as well as knowledge derives meaning from relationships. Those which you accept are the foundations of your beliefs. The separation is merely another term for a split mind. It was not an act, but a
thought. Therefore, the idea of separation can be given away, just as the idea of unity can. Either way, the idea will be strengthened
in the mind of the giver.
41 The ego is the symbol of separation, just as the Holy Spirit is the symbol of peace. What you perceive in others, you are strengthening in
yourself. You let your mind misperceive, but the Holy Spirit lets your mind reinterpret its own misperceptions. The Holy Spirit is the perfect teacher. He uses only what your minds
already understand to teach you that you do
not understand it. The Holy Spirit can deal with an unwilling learner without going counter to his will because part of his will
is still for God. Despite the ego's attempts to conceal this part, it is still much stronger than the ego, even though the ego does not recognize it. The Holy Spirit recognizes it perfectly because it is His own dwelling place or the place in the mind where He is at home.
42
You are at home there, too, because it is a place of peace, and peace is of God. You who are part of God are not at home
except in His peace. If peace is eternal, you are at home only in eternity. The ego made the world as
it perceives it, but the Holy Spirit, the
reinterpreter of what the ego made, sees it only as a teaching device for bringing you home. The Holy Spirit must perceive time and reinterpret it into the timeless. The mind must be led into eternity
through time because, having made time, it is capable of perceiving its opposite.
43 The Holy Spirit must work through opposites because He must work with and for a mind that
is in opposition. Correct and learn and be open to learning. You have
not made truth, but truth can still set you free. Look as the Holy Spirit looks, and understand as He understands. His understanding looks back to God in remembrance of me. He is in Holy Communion always, and He is part of
you. He is your Guide to salvation because He holds the remembrance of things past and to come. He holds this gladness gently in your minds, asking only that you
increase it in His name by sharing it, to increase His joy in
you.
