ACIM Workbook Lesson 134 ~ May 13
http://courseinmiracles.com/workbook_lessons/part_1/lesson134.htm
http://www.acimradio.net/urwork/
" Lesson 134
"Let me perceive forgiveness as it is."
- Let us review the meaning of "forgive,"
for it is apt to be distorted and
to be perceived as something [which] entails
an unfair sacrifice of righteous wrath,
a gift unjustified and undeserved,
and a complete denial of the truth.
In such a view, forgiveness must be seen
as mere eccentric folly, and this course
appears to rest salvation on a whim.|
- This twisted view of what [salvation] means
is easily corrected when you can
accept the fact that pardon is not asked
for what is true. It must be limited
to what is false. It is irrelevant
to everything except illusions. Truth
is God's creation, and to pardon [this]
is meaningless. All truth belongs to Him,
reflects His laws and radiates His Love.
Does this need pardon? How can you forgive
the sinless and eternally benign?|
- The major difficulty that you find
in genuine forgiveness on your part
is that you still believe you must forgive
the truth and not illusions. You conceive
of pardon as a vain attempt to look
past what is there; to overlook the truth
in an unfounded effort to deceive
yourself by making an illusion true.
This twisted viewpoint but reflects the hold
that the idea of sin retains as yet
upon your mind as you regard yourself.|
- Because you think your sins are real, you look
on pardon as deception. For it is
impossible to think of sin as true
and not believe forgiveness is a lie.
Thus is forgiveness really but a sin,
like all the rest. It says the truth is false,
and smiles on the corrupt as if they were
as blameless as the grass; as white as snow.
It is delusional in what it thinks
it can accomplish. It would see as right
the plainly wrong; the loathsome as the good.|
- Pardon is no escape in such a view.
It merely is a further sign that sin
is unforgivable, at best to be
concealed, denied, or called another name,
for pardon is a treachery to truth.
Guilt can not be forgiven. If you sin,
your guilt is everlasting. Those who are
forgiven from the view their sins are real
are pitifully mocked and twice condemned;
first by themselves for what they think they did,
and once again by those who pardon them.|
- It is sin's unreality which makes
forgiveness natural [and kind] and sane,
a deep relief to those who offer it;
a quiet blessing where it is received.
It does not countenance illusions, but
collects them lightly, with a little laugh,
and gently lays them at the feet of truth.
And there they disappear entirely.|
#Forgiveness is the only thing that stands
for truth in the illusions of the world.
It sees their nothingness, and looks right through
the thousand forms in which they may appear.
It looks on lies but it is not deceived.
It does not heed the self-accusing shrieks
of sinners mad with guilt. It looks on them
with quiet eyes, and merely says to them,
"My brother, what you think is not the truth."|
- The strength of pardon is its honesty,
which is so uncorrupted that it sees
illusions as illusions, not as truth.
It is because of this that it becomes
the undeceiver in the face of lies,
the great restorer of the simple truth.
By its ability to overlook
what is not there, it opens up the way
to truth, which [had] been blocked by dreams of guilt.
#Now are you free to follow in the way
your true forgiveness opens up to you.
For if one brother has received this gift
of you, the door is open to yourself.|
There is a very simple way to find
the door to true forgiveness, and perceive
it open wide in welcome. When you feel
that you are tempted to accuse someone
of sin in any form, do not allow
your mind to dwell on what you think he did,
for this is self-deception. Ask instead,
"Would I accuse myself of doing this?"|
- Thus will you see alternatives for choice
in terms which render choosing meaningful,
and keep your mind as free of guilt and pain
as God Himself intended it to be,
and as it is in truth. It is but lies
[which] would condemn. In truth is innocence
the only thing there is. Forgiveness stands
between illusions and the truth, between
the world you see and that which lies beyond,
between the hell of guilt and Heaven's gate.|
- Across this bridge, as powerful as Love
Which laid Its blessing on it, are all dreams
of evil and of hatred and attack
brought silently to truth. They are not kept
to swell and bluster and to terrify
the foolish dreamer who believes in them.
He has been gently wakened from his dream
by understanding what he thought he saw
was never there. And now he cannot feel
that all escape has been denied to him.|
- He does not have to fight to save himself.
He does not have to kill the dragons which
he thought pursued him. Nor need he erect
the heavy walls of stone and iron doors
he thought would make him safe. He can [take off]
the ponderous and useless armor made
to chain his mind to fear and misery.
His step is light, and as he lifts his foot
to stride ahead, a star is left behind
to point the way to those who follow him.|
- Forgiveness must be practiced, for the world
cannot perceive its meaning, nor provide
a guide to teach you its beneficence.
There is no thought in all the world which leads
to any understanding of the laws
it follows, nor the Thought which it reflects.
It is as alien to the world as is
your own reality. And yet it joins
your mind with the Reality in you.|
- Today we practice true forgiveness that
the time of joining be no more delayed.
For we would meet with our Reality
in freedom and in peace. Our practicing
becomes the footsteps lighting up the way
for all our brothers, who will follow us
to the Reality we share with them.
- That this may be accomplished, let us give
a quarter of an hour twice today,
and spend it with the Guide Who understands
the meaning of forgiveness, and was sent
to us to teach it. Let us ask of Him:
"Let me perceive forgiveness as it is."|
- Then choose one brother as He will direct,
and catalogue his "sins" as one by one
they cross your mind. Be certain not to dwell
on any one of them, but realize
that you are using his offenses but
to save the world from all ideas of sin.
Briefly consider all the evil things
you thought of him, and each time ask yourself
"Would I condemn myself for doing this?"|
- Let him be freed from all the thoughts you had
of sin in him. And now you are prepared
for freedom. If you have been practicing
thus far in willingness and honesty,
you will begin to sense a lifting up,
a lightening of weight across your chest,
a deep and certain feeling of relief.
The time remaining should be given to
experiencing the escape from all
the heavy chains you sought to lay upon
your brother, [which] were laid upon yourself.
- Forgiveness should be practiced through the day,
for there will be [so] many times when you
forget its meaning and attack yourself.
When this occurs, allow your mind to see
through this illusion as you tell yourself:
"Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
Would I accuse myself of doing this?
I will not lay this chain upon myself."
In everything you do remember this:
No-one is crucified alone, and yet
No-one can enter Heaven by himself. "
~ Urtext of ACIM
------------------------------------------
[ Hear Today's Lesson Read to You ]
http://www.acimradio.net/wkbk/134_UrWork_LetMePerceiveForgivenessAsItIs.wma
or via http://www.acimradio.net/urwork/
|
