Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven. What is sin, except a false idea about God's Son? Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God.This radical idea can be quite a challenge to fully grasp. Take, for instance, the recent shooting in Tucson, Arizona. How is it that we can begin to absolve the shooter for his actions and start to comprehend that what he did did not actually occur? What of the families who are grieving over their lost loved ones? Tell them their child, their father, their grandmother did not really die; and they will point you to the grave site and shed tears as proof of their loss. But what A Course in Miracles advocates is denying the offense by Seeing the Truth of our indestructible Lightness of Being.
We are eternal, which means we cannot die. Death is an illusion. Pain only affects the body, and as the body is not everlasting, the Course would say it is not Real. What we see, then, is not always what we See. Our eyes see differently than our Heart. Our Heart is always True, but our eyes see only what we want to believe. Believe in sickness, and our eyes will see it. Believe in death, and we behold it all around. But believe in Love and Joy and Everlasting Peace, and our eyes will start to witness it, denying the reality of darkness to reveal the Light beyond. Though the shadows of this world will try to contradict what's really Real, we have the power to deny them power by remembering Who We Really Are. Where it seems that sickness, death and violence have taken hold; we must know that in Reality we never could be harmed. That is how we See the Truth. That is how we may forgive.
Following the Course's introduction to this section are the following meditation lessons, which are geared to help us prime our minds so that we may be better able to forgive:
Day 221: Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still.
Day 222: God is with me. I live and move in Him.
Day 223: God is my life. I have no life but His.
Day 224: God is my Father, and He loves His Son.
Day 225: God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.
Day 226: My home awaits me. I will hasten there.
Day 227: This is my holy instant of release.
Day 228: God has condemned me not. No more do I.
Day 229: Love, which created me, is what I am.
Day 230: Now will I seek and find the peace of God.
While preparing to write this post, I reviewed each of these lessons again and meditated upon their meaning. What came to me was the idea of presence, which is to say being fully invested in the Present. The past is but a memory, and it can only harm us to the degree with which we let it. The future is yet to come, and so it poses no threat to our current state of being. Our only reality is this very moment. Right now. At this moment, you are reading these words, and whatever thoughts are coursing through your mind right now is what comprises your reality.
Now, the reality which we experience here on earth is a reflection of our way of thinking. So, depending on whether or not our thoughts are in alignment with our True Selves (that is to say the Eternal Lightness of our Being), we may not experience the reality in this present moment as God intends for us. God wills that we know our full Magnificence. He wishes for us only Love, Peace and Happiness. Yet our thoughts may send us astray, and when they do, we fail to experience our Ultimate Reality. We fail to recognize Who We Really Are. And so, though the present moment is all that's real, it is possible even then, here on earth, to step out of Ultimate Reality - a reality so Perfect, so unchangeable, that in it we could never deny the Holy Truth of Who We Are.
While sipping my green tea this afternoon outside on the terrace of my apartment building, I marveled at the sight of shimmering sunlight reflecting off the long, thin blades sprouting from the tops of the nearby palm trees. It was a gentle reminder - that every living thing is made of Light; that day or night, we need but look up and see that light shines all around us; that whether it's the sun or moon or stars, the Light will never cease to shine. We are the stars, and we are the Light that shines forth from their home within the sky. After all, each one of us was born from stardust. It's a scientific fact. God created the cosmos, and from them all Life arose.
Our Light will never go out, so what have we to be angry for? What cause is their for pain? Why fear the lonely shadows in this world, when they cannot harm us? Let us be still. There we will find the Peace of God which He Himself has planted deep within us. Let us listen to the Love within our Hearts. It will answer our call and the call for peace from our dear Brothers. Let us lend them our compassion, especially when the call comes through in pain, however it may manifest. Forgiveness is the mirror of God's Light we hold before our troubled Brothers. Forgiveness is the Gift we give to them and to ourselves. Forgiveness is the road by which we find our way back Home again.
Peace be with you all; and may you be reminded every day, every hour, every minute of each moment that the Light within your soul shines brightly; safe and everlasting.
Until next time,
Journeyman
