Day 297

Today's Lesson:

Forgiveness is the only gift I give.

Forgiveness is the only gift I give, because it is the only gift I want. And everything I give I give myself. This is salvation's simple formula. And I, who would be saved, would make it mine, to be the way I live within a world that needs salvation, and that will be saved as I accept Atonement for myself.

Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure their final outcome, and how faithfully is every step in my salvation set already, and accomplished by Your grace. Thanks be to You for Your eternal gifts, and thanks to You for my Identity.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I listened to a lot of new information yesterday while traveling between my two client destinations. I can't remember which program I was listening to, but it was talking about how in the New Testament, there is no reference to Jesus forgiving anyone. They were talking in particular about Jesus and the prostitute. Now I'm no Biblical scholar, so I can't prove or disprove what I heard, but the way I heard it yesterday was that Jesus had no need to forgive anyone because he never condemned anyone. The only time forgiveness is "needed" is when there is a debt or a transgression to be "repaid." Then forgiveness cancels the debt.

In this lesson, we learn that forgiveness is all I can give because it is all that I want. Since I have condemned and have been condemned by others, I want my debt to be canceled so I don't have to repay it. According to the Glossary of Terms from A Course in Miracles, forgiveness is

"releasing another not from what he did, but ... from your misinterpretation of what he did. This can forgive, for it frees your mind of resentment and releases the other from the accusation of sin and guilt. The rationale behind forgiveness is that sin is not real. It is a wrong perception of attack. Attack has no power to do real harm because what is real (in you and in your 'attacker') cannot be harmed or changed in any way.... Attack, then, has no effects. It is a harmless mistake, a call for love. Thus, what caused you to feel hurt was not the other's attack, but your own misperception of his attack. Forgiveness lets this misperception go. As a result, it heals the other person of guilt, and can even heal his body. It also heals your mind of guilt and fear, for these came from your anger and resentment. It also heals you of your sense of separateness, for it takes away the perception of sinfulness that made you recoil from your brother."

If there were no judgment, no attack, no sin, there would be no need for forgiveness, and we would all be existing in Christ-consciousness. But since we are not there yet, forgiveness is the central theme of this course, and helps us achieve that goal here on earth.

The challenge for us here on earth is to both forgive and forget. Cancel the debt - take it off the books - clear it from our memory.

Today's text talks about choice, and how there is no need for choice if we are talking about oneness. Nothing conflicts with oneness, so what is there to decide? It is only conflict that makes choice possible. The truth is simple; it is one, without an opposite. The truth makes no decisions because there is nothing to decide between. What is everything leaves room for nothing else.

It goes on to say that there is a borderland of thought that stands between this world and Heaven. This is where all thoughts are brought together; where conflicting values meet and all illusions are laid down beside the truth, where they are judged to be untrue. This is where sin is denied and everything that is received instead.

Here is where knowledge and perception are brought together and there is no need for attack. Here there is no conflict because there is no distinction between what is true and what is not true. No sacrifice is possible in the relinquishment of an illusion recognized as such. Where all reality has been withdrawn from what was never true, can it be hard to give it up, and choose what must be true?

Another program I listened to yesterday was Marianne Williamson's show on XM 156. She was interviewing Lama Surya Das, the author of the book Buddha Is As Buddha Does. I learned a lot by listening to this interview. Here is what Amazon says about this book:

"In the process of awakening, the Buddha realized that all of us, deep within, are inherently perfect and whole, with the capacity to overcome suffering and transform ourselves into forces for good. In this book national bestselling author Lama Surya Das, one of the foremost American Buddhist teachers, offers a thorough, tried-and-true map to the richest treasure a human being can find—Buddha's advice for living to your true potential. By following these guidelines, you will enter into a life of greater joy, clarity, peace, and wisdom than you ever thought possible."

I am learning that we really are all one, and we are all in pursuit of higher awareness, whether we are aware of that or not. I ordered this book, so will give a report when I've had a chance to read it.

I'm guessing that allowing instead of controlling, being instead of doing, and accepting instead of judging are going to be part of the teaching and learning of this book. Sounds familiar to students of this course. At the borderland, there are no distinctions - no choices need to be made, and no forgiveness needs to be granted. But until we reach that borderland, we will do what we can and be what are are in pursuit of oneness.

That awareness is my miracle for today!