May 14, 2012 - What is forgiveness?

A Course in Miracles Lesson #134

"Let me perceive forgiveness as it is."

"Forgiveness in Washington, D.C."
photo by Aaron Springston

[Marsha's thoughts]

In our material world, forgiveness has many faces. In everyday life, someone tells us they're sorry and we say, That's all right. Or maybe someone has done something which stays on our mind as a transgression until we finally decide to forgive them, perhaps noting that we won't or can't forget. This is not what we're talking about today. Our topic involves the releasing of illusions, the acknowledgement that there is no reality in sin. And I use the definition of sin as anything which separates us from the love that is God. I often go back to the ancient Toltec wisdom as interpreted by Miguel Ruiz in his book, The Four Agreements. One of these agreements asks us not to take anything personally. This request speaks to "forgiveness as it is". He goes so far as to state that even if someone shoots you in the head, it's not your problem, it's theirs! What an interesting thought! Mortal mind tells us that anything which seems to threaten this physical body is to be feared. I recently watched a movie, Soul Surfer, which related the events surrounding a shark attack which took a young surfer's arm. The most beautiful part of this story was that she not only held no fear of returning to the ocean, but how her realization of her true worth was expressed to others. This forgiveness acknowledges no blame in the first place, holds no grudge as there is no blame, and requires no forgiveness because there was no blame or grudge. As we learn to see ourselves and everything through this spiritual sense we're developing, forgiveness takes on a different flavor for us. It becomes a peaceful acknowledgement of reality, and facilitates a letting go of the belief in separation.

Mary Baker Eddy quote:

“In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.”

Science & Health Page 63:5-11