Seeing the Face of Christ
When students of A Course in Miracles encounter the phrase “the face of Christ,” they often wonder what the Course intends to convey. The words sound simple, yet they point to a profound shift in perception. First and foremost, one must understand, when the Course discusses Christ, it is not referring to Jesus. Christ’s face is not any person’s literal face. It is an abstraction.
The Course does not ask us to imagine a physical feature or an image drawn from art. Instead, it uses the phrase as a symbol for a direct form of vision. This vision does not arise from the eyes but from the mind that has laid down its judgment and its fear. It is the moment when one looks upon a brother and sees him without guilt. The face of Christ is the perception of innocence in another’s mind. It is also called the face of Love (OE Tx:11.12), and it is a final step toward remembering God.
“When brothers join in purpose in the world of fear, they stand already at the edge of the real world… when they joined their hands, it was Christ’s hand they took, and they will look on Him Whose hand they hold. The face of Christ is looked upon before the Father is remembered. For He must be unremembered till His Son has reached beyond forgiveness to the love of God. Yet is the love of Christ accepted first. And then will come the knowledge They are One.” OE Tx:30.63
The Course ties this vision to forgiveness. Forgiveness, in the teaching of the Course, is not the pardon of real wrongs. It is the recognition that the wrong was never real in the first place. Only a mistaken perception made it seem so. When this insight dawns, the barrier that once stood between two minds becomes thin and can be lifted. The Course often calls this barrier a veil. It is made of fear, guilt, and the desire to keep one’s brother at a distance. It is also made of the wish to see oneself as separate and alone. When the veil is lifted, the Christ shines forth.
Several passages describe this veil and its effects. One of the most striking comes from the discussion of the obstacles to peace. The text speaks of a dark veil that hangs before the face of Christ. It says the veil seems to make the Christ appear disfigured, as though marked by pain. The Course stated, “this dark veil… fades in the blazing light beyond it when the fear of death is gone.” (OE Tx:19.91)
The lesson is clear. The distortion comes from fear and not from Christ. Once the fear is released, the face that seemed changed by suffering is restored to its natural loveliness. The Course links the veil not only to fear of death but to the hidden fear of God. When the mind clings to the belief that God will punish or condemn, it cannot allow itself to look on the face of Christ. The text says that in our secret alliance with the ego and with death, we have agreed never to let this fear be lifted because it would allow us to look upon Christ and join Him in His Father. The face of Christ is therefore the symbol for the truth we fear to see. Yet it is also the truth our hearts most deeply want.
Forgiveness removes the veil. The Course often uses the image of Easter lilies to express this idea. When you offer a brother the symbol of forgiveness, you begin to see glimpses of the Christ behind the veil, looking through the white petals. The text says that when you forgive the stranger, who seems alien to you and yet is your ancient friend, his release and your redemption occur together. The recognition of Christ in him is the recognition of Christ in yourself.
Another passage explains that each person finds his savior when he is ready to look upon the Christ and see Him sinless. The savior does not arrive as a special figure. The savior is the brother who stands before you. When you see him without judgment, you accept the truth of your shared innocence. You give the release that you want for yourself. The world is full of such saviors, yet they can be recognized only when the mind is willing to see them without division.
The Course describes the face of Christ as a light that shines on those who enter a holy relationship. When two people place their relationship in the hands of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of the relationship changes. It becomes a place where forgiveness can be learned and extended. The text says that as they rest in their new purpose, the face of Christ shines on them and they remember the laws of God. This shining face marks the end of the belief in separation. It also marks the entrance into the real world.
The teaching is clear that Christ is not seen with the body’s eyes. Seeing Christ is a vision of the mind. It does not appear in form. It appears when the mind looks past form entirely. A passage explains this with great clarity. It asks the reader to forget the body, because the body does not show Christ. His face is set within the holiness of the brother and not within the body that seems to contain him. When the mind looks upon holiness, it sees Christ. When it looks upon the body, it sees only the image that fear made.
The ability to see the face of Christ signals the approach to the memory of God. Several statements describe this sequence. One says that when you stand on holy ground where sin has disappeared, you see the face of Christ rising in its place. Once you behold Him, you recall His Father as He really is. Another states that the face of Christ is looked upon before the Father is remembered. The Love of Christ must be accepted first. Then the knowledge that the Love of Christ and the Love of the Father are one returns to the mind that is ready to accept it.
Christ’s face is a gentle symbol. It does not frighten. It invites. The text says that once you see His face, you cannot judge. Judgment falls away because you recognize that the brother before you is your own shared self. There is no past in him that can condemn him. There is no story in him that can frighten you. You see only the light that God placed in him at creation. The Course teaches that in this single vision you see the face of Love and understand that you look on everyone as you behold this One.
A related passage teaches that the images made by the ego cannot stand before this vision. They vanish in the presence of the majesty of Christ. Those who accept this vision join in the strength of Christ and thus redeem the world. Healing becomes natural because they no longer see errors as signs of guilt. They see mistakes as calls for help and correction. The world becomes a gentler place because the people who walk in it look with gentler eyes.
The face of Christ appears in the Course’s teaching on the Holy Instant. The Holy Instant is a moment outside time. It breaks the chain of past and future. It gives the mind a quiet space in which truth can enter. The text says that the Holy Instant lights your eyes and gives them sight to see beyond all suffering and see Christ’s face instead. One cannot see suffering and Christ at the same time. Vision replaces pain, and the mind that sees truly becomes a witness to healing.
The Course uses the face of Christ to teach that perception is shared. Vision is not a private act. When you see Christ in a brother, he becomes the means through which you remember the truth of your own being. The world then witnesses to this sight. A passage says that the world will call forth witnesses to show the face of Christ to you who brought the sight to them. In place of the world of accusation, a world appears in which all eyes look with gratitude upon the friend who brought release.
This symbol carries a universal lesson. When you see Christ in one brother, you see Him in all. Vision cannot be limited. The Course says that when you look on one brother with no self-concept standing between you, you see the mirror of yourself in him. In this single vision, you understand that there is no one on whom you do not look with the same recognition. Christ is one because the Son of God is one.
What then does the Course want its students to understand by this symbol? It wants us to understand that seeing sinlessness is our natural vision. We cannot reach God without first reaching our brother. We cannot remember Heaven until we have looked with mercy on the one who stands before us. The Course teaches that God cannot be remembered while any distance remains between two minds. That distance is the veil. When the veil is lifted, God is remembered because His Son is remembered.
The face of Christ is a promise. Every mind will look upon it. The text ends with a vision of a world where no trace of the journey remains. In this world, not one spot of darkness is left to hide the Christ from anyone. The Will of God is done because every mind recognizes the truth. The light of God shines from everything that lives and moves in Him, and each created being remembers its source.
This final picture might appear far beyond our present reach. Yet the Course never presents it as distant. It teaches that a little willingness is enough. When we lay aside judgment for a moment and ask to see with innocence, the door opens. The face of Christ shines upon the one who asks to see beyond the veil of old ideas. Vision begins with a small step, and each step is answered.
The Course offers this symbol to encourage us. It assures us that beneath every fear and behind every harsh judgment lives the truth that God placed in His Son. The face of Christ is the sign of that truth. It is the mark of the healed mind and the promise that no one is separate. To see this face in another is to remember your own innocence. The memory of God follows, because you cannot recognize the Son without recognizing the Father.
To understand this symbol is to understand the purpose of the Course. The Course trains the mind to perceive innocence and not guilt. It teaches that perception of guilt is the cause of suffering and conflict, and that perception of innocence is the means of release. seeing Christ’s face is the Course’s way of describing the state of mind that knows no guilt. It is the peaceful gaze that sees nothing to condemn. It is the quiet joy of a mind that rests in truth.
The Course invites each student to practice forgiveness so that this vision may arise. The face of Christ is not reserved for saints or mystics. It is the natural reward of a mind that wants peace. It appears when we place our relationships in the hands of the Holy Spirit and let Him guide them to a better purpose. It appears when we ask to see with clarity rather than with fear. It appears when we let go of the wish to be right and accept the wish to be healed.
The promise of the Course is that this vision will become ours. The world we see now may seem bleak, yet the Course teaches that a different world waits behind the veil. The face of Christ is the symbol of that world and the first light of its dawn. When we look upon it, the journey ends because we have remembered the truth of our shared nature. The Course says that the journey ends at the place where it began, and that the face of Christ was always within our sight. We see it when we choose to see it, and we choose to see it when we forgive.
Thomas Fox, J.D. - Lake Cumberland, Kentucky