How often do I look at another person and see not who they are, but who I believe they should be?

I bring my expectations, hopes, and fears into every encounter. I see through the stories I've created, often without realizing how much those stories shape my perception. And then I mistake what I see for the truth.

Today's lesson invites me to recognize this gently, without condemning myself for judging.

Perhaps that is the beauty of the Course's teaching on the Last Judgment. God's judgment is not a verdict of guilt. It is the correction of everything I have mistakenly believed about myself and others. What remains is the innocence that was never lost.

I don't have to see clearly on my own. I don't have to defend my interpretations or insist that my understanding is complete.

I can simply become willing to see differently.

And when I look upon another, perhaps I can remember that what is true of them is also true of me.

Father, show me what is true. Let me see beyond my judgments and recognize the innocence You see in us all.