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| "Beaver Bridge" photo by Steve Shogren |
ACIM Workbook Lesson #134
"Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
In our material world, forgiveness has many faces. Perhaps 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, while thinking that we won't or can't forget. This is not what we're talking about today. Our topic involves the release of illusions, the acknowledgement that there is no reality in sin. I think of sin as anything which separates us from the love which is God. I often think of the ancient Toltec wisdom as interpreted by Don 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! 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 life through spiritual sense, forgiveness takes on a different meaning for us. It becomes a peaceful acknowledgement of reality, and facilitates a letting go of the belief in separation. No blame, no guilt, all is forgiveness.
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 63:5-1
