I, like many others, use the life of Jesus as an example life for guidance and instruction. I don’t know about you but when I think of the life of Jesus, it is difficult to separate his humanity from his divinity. They seem to merge as one. I believe that is because there was nothing else.

I never associate the word ego with Jesus. I just never have. A Course of Love would call his life’s demonstration, the “Elevated Self of Form.” It is sustaining Christ-Consciousness while still in form, and Jesus did just that when he walked this earth over 2,000 years ago.

Staying in our right mind (our sane mind) is a teaching and practice taught to us by Jesus during his life on Earth and in his teachings, in both ACIM and ACOL. One of the ways in accomplishing this is to look beyond the “seem to be” and not to judge according to appearances.

What has also been helpful to me is when I bring compassion through either thought or deed to my relationships with my brothers. When I think about compassion, what comes to mind is an act or thought of total giving. Compassion never seeks anything in return. It is complete unto itself. It may be the closest thing we have to “the Love of God” within our human experience. It can bring us together in mutual understanding and helps to uncover the Divinity in all of us. It is probably the most gentle of our human qualities as well.

When I extend compassion, I invite the Holy Spirit to allow my inner and true vision to behold both the divinity and the humanity of my brother as one pure and innocent experience. No longer do I attempt to define my brother as split between ego and divine identities. My goal is now to perceive only his Divine Reality in a packaging called “humanity.” There is nothing else to see.

It is how I see Jesus as he walked the Earth in human form and it is how I aspire to always see my brothers. They are divine, walking about in a visual container known as a body for communication purposes.

Jesus used his human nature in demonstrating his divinity to all he encountered. Like Jesus, we have an inner calling to do the same—that is, to demonstrate the laws and love of God through compassionate humanity toward others.

The ego would teach me I must know my brother in order to love him. But Spirit teaches me that I must love my brother in order to know him. Ego may speak first but it is always wrong. Hence, Jesus provided us with the option to “choose again.”

The Bible teaches us that we must know with our heart. For me, the heart has always been the word symbol for the Love of God. It also symbolizes the innermost, intimate fabric of my being. When the mind is in sync and joined with the heart, Jesus teaches in ACOL that a state of “Wholeheartedness” exists in which neither heart nor mind contradict the other and function from a state of perfect unity and harmony.

To me, this is rightmindedness and also miracle-mindedness. Anything becomes possible. From this state of awareness, what is not true about our brothers and the world we see vanishes from our sight; what IS true is the only thing we see.

It takes just one compassionate thought or act towards our brother, regardless of appearances.

Contact Lana Carolan via email at lcarolan49@gmail.com or on Facebook.