If you have ever felt betrayed, you know it is a killing feeling. It is a feeling that kills your joy, murders your peace, and snuffs out your love. If you let the ego grab you in the moment of such a feeling, you might even feel a desire to seek "justice," or maybe even an impulse to "enjoy" vengeance. (As you may know, the ego, which ancients called "the devil" or "Satan," has as its ultimate goal your suffering and death.)
What you may not understand in the heat of the moment is that the ego had already grabbed you when you perceived betrayal. Betrayal is in the eyes of the beholder, it doesn't exist in reality.
To understand that nobody ever betrays you it is necessary to know that God does not betray. The illusion of betrayal can only arise when we see with ego eyes, not seeing what is really going on beneath the surface appearances, which requires an entirely different way of seeing.
In his modern revelation, A COURSE IN MIRACLES, Jesus Christ corrects many of the incorrect ego-interpretations made by his disciples. Jesus explains that he does not see betrayal:
You are free to perceive yourselves as persecuted if you choose. But you might remember when you DO choose to react that way, that I WAS persecuted as the world judges, and did NOT share this evaluation for myself. I elected, both for your sake AND mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as judged by the ego, did not matter. As the world judges these things, but NOT as God knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed.
Regarding his disciples' interpretation of the actions of Judas:
Nor could they have described my reactions to Judas Iscariot as they did, if they had really understood ME. They could not have believed that I could have said, “Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” unless I BELIEVED in betrayal. The whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did NOT.
In plain simple everyday language which we can all easily understand: what is really going on is not what appears to be going on ... ever! So we cannot ever logically hold onto the ego-judgment that we've been betrayed. And if we turn our attention inward and listen to God's Voice, we will never be told we've been betrayed, because God doesn't see things that way.
But then when we see seeming betrayal, what is going on beneath surface appearances? Simply this ... our higher being is creating for ourselves yet another forgiveness lesson. It is one of the many learning opportunities we are providing for ourselves over and over again until learning is complete, opportunities to accept things as they are without judgment ... which is the real meaning of forgiveness.
The ego's reaction to this is: "No! I will not accept that I created what this person did to me!"
But remember the ego's goal is your unhappiness and ultimately your destruction. Remember also that you are far, far more ... infinitely more ... than ego says you are. In ego perception you have no idea, not even an inkling, of your true creative power. Why wouldn't your higher being create the lessons you need to rise above the debilitating habits of ego judgment?
You were not betrayed. But you were certainly blessed with a wonderful opportunity.
Now ... knowing who you really are far beyond ego, and knowing what is really going on, you can always meet any temptation to feel betrayed with a laugh. Laughing joyously, you can say to yourself:
Also available free of charge online:
Course in Political Miracles
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