Corresponding Manual for Teachers Section
Chapter 3: How Is Healing Accomplished?
5. Should Healing Be Repeated?
This question really answers itself. Healing, like the miracle that brings it, is unique to each healing situation, and therefore cannot be repeated. If the patient has accepted a change of mind and is healed, what healing is still needed? And if the healing is certain even if not yet accepted, what is there to repeat?
For a Teacher of the Divine to remain concerned about the result of healing is to limit the healing. It is now the Teacher of the Divine themself whose mind needs to be healed. And it is this they must facilitate. They are now the patient, and they must so regard themself. They have made a mistake in understanding, and must be willing to change their mind about it. They temporarily lacked the Trust that makes for giving truly, and so they have not received the benefit of their giving.
Whenever a Teacher of the Divine has tried to be a channel for healing, they have succeeded. Should they be tempted to doubt this, they should not repeat their previous effort. That was already maximal, because the Holy Spirit so accepted it and so used it. Now the Teacher of the Divine has only one course to follow. They must use Reason to remind themself that they have given the problem to One Who cannot fail, and recognize that their own uncertainty is not Love but fear, and therefore disguised separation. Their position has thus become temporarily untenable, for they are now offering separation to one to whom they offered Love. This is impossible. Having offered Love, only Love can be received.
It is in this truth that the Teacher of the Divine must trust. This is what is really meant by the statement that the sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for themself. The Teacher of the Divine is a miracle worker because they give the Divine’s Gifts they have received, in those situations in which they are guided to give these Gifts. Yet they must first accept these Gifts for themself. They need do no more, nor is there more that they could do. By accepting the miracle of healing in their own mind, they are able to offer healing. If they doubt this, let them remember Who gave the Gift and Who received It. Thus is their doubt corrected. They temporarily thought that the Gifts of the Divine could be withdrawn by their doubt and fear. That was a mistake, but hardly one to hold on to. And so the Teacher of the Divine can only recognize it for what it is, and let it be corrected for themself.
One of the more difficult temptations to recognize is that to doubt a healing because of the appearance of continuing symptoms is a mistake in the form of lack of Trust. As such, it is a form of fear. Usually it seems to be just the opposite. It does appear unreasonable at first to be told that continued concern is fear. It has all the appearance of Love. Yet Love without Trust is impossible, and doubt and Trust cannot coexist. And fear must be the opposite of perfect Love, regardless of the form it takes. Doubt not Love’s Gift, and it is impossible to doubt Its Result. This is the Certainty that gives the Divine’s Teachers the Power to be miracle workers, for they have put their trust in this Certainty.
The real basis for doubt about the Outcome of any problem that has been given to the Divine’s appointed Teacher for Resolution is always self-doubt. And that necessarily implies that trust has been placed in an illusory self, for only such a self can be doubted. This illusion can take many forms. Perhaps there is a fear of weakness and vulnerability. Perhaps there is a fear of failure and shame associated with a sense of inadequacy. Perhaps there is embarrassment and guilt stemming from false humility. The form of the mistake is not important. What is important is only the recognition of a mistake as a mistake.
The mistake is always some form of concern with a self-image, or pseudo-self, to the exclusion of the patient; a failure to recognize the patient and the Teacher of the Divine as Part of the same holy Self they both share. It thus represents a confusion in identity. Conflict about what the Teacher of the Divine is has entered this teacher’s mind, and they have become deceived about themself. And they could only have become deceived about themself because they have denied the Source of their creation.
If you are offering only healing, you cannot doubt. If you really want the problem solved, you cannot doubt. If you are certain what the problem is, you cannot doubt. Doubt is the result of conflicting wishes. Be sure of what you want, and doubt becomes impossible.
