Genesis 50:15 · World English Bible
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.”
Guilt cannot imagine being met with anything but attack. A mind that remembers its own wrong is certain of punishment, and so it invents an enemy who will surely strike back, when the only accuser is itself.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Guilt cannot imagine being met with anything but attack. A mind that remembers its own wrong is certain of punishment, and so it invents an enemy who will surely strike back, when the only accuser is itself. With the shelter of the father gone, the brothers' fear is nakedly their own guilt turned outward, painting a threatening face on one who holds none.
What they dread in another is simply what they have not forgiven in themselves. The hatred they expect is a mirror, and until they look at the guilt directly, they will keep meeting it wherever they turn.
Brethren: the parts of one mind that carry unforgiven guilt and expect the world to avenge it Father: the protecting presence whose felt absence lets buried guilt rise into fear Joseph: the aspect of the mind seen through the lens of guilt, mistaken for a judge and enemy when he is only love
Christian Psychology lens
What am I expecting them to do, that I am actually doing to myself?
The one who has done wrong is tormented by the thought of it long before anyone punishes them. The mind becomes its own court.
We suffer more in imagination than in reality. The dreaded conversation is almost always kinder than the one you rehearsed.
The thief hears footsteps in every room. Fear draws faces on people who are simply standing there.
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Christian Psychology