[Please note: ACIM passages quoted in this article reference the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) Edition.]
Today I am practicing the line, “It is impossible to overestimate my brother’s value.” What a powerful line! My brother’s value, strictly based on outer appearances, doesn’t seem to be all that much. But we know that outer appearances can lie. I love the analogy, which I ran across recently, that the energy locked up in a raisin could power New York City for a day. Do raisins appear to contain that kind of power? No, but they still do. Do our brother appear to contain infinite value? No, but they still do.
I also find the idea to be extremely uplifting. I feel constantly weighed down with what a meaningless, crazy, depressing place this world is. There seems to be so little to really believe in, to really put my trust in, to really love wholeheartedly. But if every brother contains infinite value, then everything is different. Then I would have something to constantly believe in, put my trust in, and love.
This is such a central topic in the Course—my brother’s infinite value. Several times the Course says that his value is so great that it is “inestimable”:
“The doer recognizes his own and his neighbor’s inestimable value simultaneously” (original notes version of T-1.I.18:4).
“He [the Holy Spirit] always teaches you the inestimable worth of every Son of God” (T-7.VII.7:3).
“It is impossible to overestimate your brother’s value….What is inestimable clearly cannot be evaluated” (T-20.V.3:1, 3).
Forgiveness isn’t just about letting go of my resentment. It is a transition from devaluing you to embracing your real value, which is literally inestimable. The hidden power contained in a raisin is nothing compared to the hidden value contained in my brothers.
