Pretend and Extend

"Pretend and extend" has become a cynical battle-cry of the economic community, describing the desires of politicians, financial corporations and governments to brush problems under the carpet, hoping that they will solve themselves as the years go by. Very much in contrast, I want to use this expression in a positive light in this note. Sometimes you see friends and colleagues choosing wrongly, and in these cases you can always opt to overlook whatever just happened.  "Pretend and extend", reminding yourself of the time when you saw your friend's true character, pretending the unfortunate occasion never happened and extending a helping hand no matter what.

You may think this partial view is at best naive and at worst dishonest, yet, who exactly is the authority that observed your friend's mistake? It is your ego, it it not? The Course in Miracles states "finding your brother's error is not the kind of vigilance the Holy Ghost would like you to maintain." Your vision might be faulty when it comes to seeing other people's mistakes, but it is certainly visionary when you look into your brother's heart