According to A Course in Miracles, relationships are “assignments,” in which people are brought together for maximal and mutual growth opportunity. Our relationships can be trips to heaven or trips to hell, depending on how we ourselves choose to interact with another person. Knowing the principles of loving relationship— recognizing the spiritual lessons afforded us by each encounter — gives us skill and even mastery at this basic human experience … It is through relationships that we either rise to our most creative possibilities in life, or fall into the patterns of fear that would consistently hold us back.
–Marianne Williamson