How to judge nothing that occurs

September 05, 2006

Recently, our Workbook class did Lesson 243, "Today I will judge nothing that occurs." The day after we did that lesson, one of our class participants brought up an interesting question. This participant's job requires him to evaluate courtroom testimony to determine who is telling the truth. How, then, could he possibly do what this lesson asked of him? How could he judge nothing that occurs in a job that requires judgment?

The key to answering this question is realizing that when the Course asks us not to judge, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't make decisions. Indeed, it is literally impossible to go through life without doing so: "There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they be illusions or not" (S-1.I.2:4). Whether we're evaluating the truth of someone's court testimony or determining which toothpaste we should use, judging in the simple sense of making decisions must be done.

But it doesn't have to be done by us. This brings us to the answer to our class participant's question: We can judge nothing that occurs by letting the Holy Spirit judge for us. Once a person gets his own judgment out of the way, "he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur" (M-10.2:7). The Holy Spirit will tell us both how to perceive a situation (the emphasis of Lesson 243) and what form-level decisions need to be made regarding it. In our class participant's job, he could let the Holy Spirit both show him who's telling the truth, and show him that everyone involved is an innocent Son of God-even those who aren't telling the truth. I'm not saying this is easy-listening to the Holy Spirit's guidance is a skill that develops with time and practice-but as we develop this skill, we can make any decision our lives require of us without ourselves judging anything that occurs.

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