Psych. 2 – II. 4 – 7. Jesus: “It would be unfair indeed if belief in God were necessary to psychotherapeutic success. Nor is ‘belief in God’ a really meaningful concept, for God can be but known.
Belief implies that ‘unbelief’ is possible, but knowledge of God has no true opposite. Not to know God is to have no knowledge at all, and it is to this that all unforgiveness leads. Then, without knowledge, all one can have is mere belief.
Different teaching aids appeal to different people. Some forms of religion really have nothing to do with God, and some forms of psychotherapy have nothing to do with real healing. Yet if pupil and teacher join in truly sharing even one goal, God will ‘enter into’ their relationship, because, by releasing separation from one another, they have accepted Him in their awareness. In the same way, a union of purpose between patient and therapist restores the place of God to ascendance, first with a joining in Christ’s vision, and finally in the memory of God Himself.
The process of psychotherapy is the journey back to sanity. Teacher and pupil, therapist and patient, are all insane to begin with or they would not be here. Only together can they find a pathway out of illusion, for no one will find sanity alone!
If joining in healing is an invitation to God to enter into His Kingdom, what difference does it make how the invitation is written? Does the paper matter, or the ink, or the pen? Or is it the one who writes, he who gives the invitation by his intent? God comes to those who would restore His unity, for they have found the way to call to Him. If any two are truly joined, He must be there in the joining. It does not matter what their particular purpose is, but they must share it wholly to succeed. It is impossible to share a goal and not be blessed by Christ, receiving the blessing in the sharing, for what is unseen through His eyes is too fragmented to be meaningful.
As true religion heals, so must true psychotherapy ultimately be religious. But both have many forms, because no good teacher uses the same approach with every pupil. On the contrary, he listens patiently to each one, and lets him formulate his own curriculum; not the curriculum’s goal, but how he can best reach the aim it sets for him.
Perhaps the teacher does not think of God as part of teaching. Perhaps the psychotherapist does not understand that healing comes from God. Yet they can succeed where many who believe they have already ‘found God’ will fail!”