My thoughts* on ACIM Urtext Lesson 46, for February 15, 2024. God’s Love is All That Anything Real is Made OF
God is the Love in which I forgive.
* I thought that sounded a little “off.”
* Read the next statement.
1. God does not forgive because He has never condemned.
* You know, there is bound to be that which appears to be redundant or confusing in the wording of the Course because of the confusion that still resided in the minds and hearts of both Helen and Bill, not to mention Ken.
²And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary.
* Condemnation is the accepted mental state of the collective in this dimension and sphere at this time. This is where the healing needs to be accepted. The means God has given us to do this is forgiveness of the belief in separation.
* Did you come into the world and find yourself in a place where you had to go “inside” to survive? Many who came into homes of severe abuse and neglect have that experience. They get locked into the framework of love and trust in something greater than themselves that a child has and then spend a lifetime wondering what is wrong with them.
* What I am hearing in A Course in Miracles is that this type of entry was chosen by you and me for the very purpose of being able to retain that witness of God’s Love that is a true part of reality and outside of the ego’s reach.
³Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions.
⁴Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them.
* I see this in people all around me. One or the other.
* I cannot release anyone from their addiction to the illusion of separation. No amount of love or attention or suffering on my part will be enough. It will only make their stand to defy God’s Love that much stronger.
⁵As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.
* If you look at this honestly you will see it.
* Why then does the Holy Spirit lead those who wish only to give love and receive it into the arms of those whose need is to plant the seed of kindness only to pluck it out and leave it naked on the cold cement of criticism and accusation? Or stomp it when it is at its most vulnerable and fragile, plump with the appearance of kindness that was only meant to “fatten it up for the sacrifice?”
* For me, I suspect it is so that I can write of it and bear witness that this is NOT what God intends for His Son to experience.
* To live with or for a false “love” is just as destructive as if one had not accepted the Atonement in the first place. It may show you glimpses of what one is capable of from the place of True Love but if it comes from a false place in the ego that “KNOWS” it is NOT WORTHY of kindness themselves, much less love, it will have to CRUSH every showing of the blossom that would represent the coming of real Love.
2. Yet although God does not forgive, His Love is nevertheless the basis of forgiveness.
* Okay, THIS is where religion really grabs us by the balls and hangs on for dear life.
* It has been fed to us that to forgive an error is kindness, “Christianity,” or an act of a guru or master. This is one of the most subtle and biggest lies there ever was.
²Fear condemns and love forgives.
* The ego ACTUALLY condemns out of fear with this logic.
* It locks the offender into a place of wrongdoing which is impossible and makes the one who has forgiven feel as if they are better than the other, which only feeds the ego and locks them in a cycle of hate that eventually has no resemblance to God’s Love in any degree.
* It can be difficult to walk away from. Especially with the acts of kindness that come before the “blows.” But you and I do ourselves no favors by staying in those situations.
* And self-harm such as getting drunk or finding someone else to hold you does not help anything and only sends you into the same cycle with someone else.
* The only way to address it is to see it for what it really is and “bite the bullet” and walk away by whatever means are given you and do not think that there is any shame in “running away,” either.
³Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God.
* Forgiveness as the world teaches or as religions teach it will only leave you in the “cycle” as identified above.
* It will demand faith and courage to see what is going on and to move beyond what they throw at you, like the very words of peace and harmony that you have tried to extend them, to justify their attacks.
* You want to realize that you are like honey or nectar to their ego because you are willing to bring God’s Love to the surface and they seek to crush it by whatever means they might have at their disposal. Do not take it personally. As Jesus says this is like life and death to them because the ego feels so threatened by and afraid of God’s Love.
* Do not think that you have what it takes either, to heal them. That will come from them alone and it will be God Who meets their sincerely stretched out hand through the Holy Spirit who heals them. This reminds me of those who looked at the unseen presence that drove most to commit suicide in “Bird Box” with Sandra Bullock. You cannot help them and will only get yourself “killed.”
⁴For this reason, forgiveness can truly be called salvation.
* Crazily, the forgiveness of the Atonement is a distancing of physicality when possible and the proper use of denial meaning you know what is not real and what is dangerous and do NOT seek to justify it or call it Love or even error, it is simply NOT REAL.
⁵It is the means by which illusions disappear.
* Amen.
3. Today’s exercises require at least three full five-minute practice periods, and as many shorter ones as possible. ²Begin the longer practice periods by repeating today’s idea to yourself, as usual. ³Close your eyes as you do so, and spend a minute or two in searching your mind for those whom you have not forgiven. ⁴It does not matter “how much” you have not forgiven them. ⁵You have forgiven them entirely or not at all.
* Also, you have forgiven all of the Body of Christ or NONE at all. I am afraid that many students that feel they are forgiveness experts will not pass this test.
* I will look at those that I allow to be in a position of “giving me love” that do not have a connection to the Love of God that can only be found in the complete and true forgiveness of the Atonement.
* This is what my “pal” throws in my face and has nicknamed “toners” who he tells me I will be looking for to replace him as a lover because he has not gotten to a place (The Atonement) that says he, himself is worthy of love. ~ This is my understanding of Jesus’ teachings. (See from above: 1. ⁵As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself. * If you look at this honestly you will see that those who condemn others are condemning what they believe to be within themselves.)
* He tells me that I am going to find them online and bring the to the hotel or in the lobby of the hotel that I took myself to on Valentine’s Day since he was trashing me.
* Just as a small compliment can give me steam to go a long ways, a relatively small criticism can crush me since I run on such a high energy anyway.
* Like those who understand the Atonement are ANYWHERE on the face of the Earth today anyway!
* And when they are they will not be looking for multiple partners or hook-ups because they will understand that to find what they truly want they need to see God, Himself, and Christ fully in the One they choose to call “Lover.” THIS is what is meant by One Whole Complete Personage presenting themselves to Another Whole Complete Representative of God, The Father and The Son in their life.
* He believes that the “god of hate” that he serves, that “condemns everyone because they are evil” deems him unlovable as well and I cannot alter that within him.
* Again, Jesus states that those who condemn feel condemned and I cannot break that. Only the Holy Spirit within him can help him overcome it. Only his turning to the True Voice of the Holy Spirit will tell him that he and all others are worthy of that Love and True Forgiveness because God ALONE declares it is so BECAUSE even God cannot create that which is opposite to Himself.
* It is only AFTER THIS will we be able to identify errors and correct them. Until then we are chasing the game of the ego and not true COMMUNION one with another.
4. If you are doing the exercises well you should have no difficulty in finding a number of people you have not forgiven. ²It is a safe rule that anyone you do not like is a suitable subject. ³Mention each one by name, and say:
⁴God is the Love in which I forgive you, [name].
* Notice God IS IS IS the Love in which I forgive you, {name}. IT IS GOD’S LOVE THAT EXISTS HERE OR ANYWHERE. UNTIL WE GET THAT IN OUR MINDS ~ WE ~ DO NOT EVEN EXIST ANYWHERE. Did you get that?
5. The purpose of the first phase of today’s practice periods is to put you in a position to forgive yourself. ²After you have applied the idea to all those who have come to mind, tell yourself:
³God is the Love in which I forgive myself.
⁴Then devote the remainder of the practice period to adding related ideas such as:
⁵God is the Love with which I love myself.
⁶God is the Love in which I am blessed.
* Again, PLEASE UNDERSTAND that GOD’s LOVE is the ONLY thing that is real here at all psychologically or physiologically or any other way. Are you hearing that in this lesson? I am not sure that I heard it before in the way that the Spirit is showing it to me right now, but I am really feeling it at this moment.
6. The form of the application may vary considerably, but the central idea should not be lost sight of. ²You might say, for example:
³I cannot be guilty because I am a Son of God.
⁴I have already been forgiven.
⁵No fear is possible in a mind beloved of God.
⁶There is no need to attack because love has forgiven me.
* BE, OH, SO CAREFUL HERE, PLEASE!!! Students sometimes use these words to justify or deny/defy behaviors that are cruel and demeaning to others or themselves. THAT is NOT what Jesus is trying to say here.
* Let me rephrase what I believe Jesus is saying using my understanding of the Course as a WHOLE.
* I cannot be guilty because I am a Son of the Living God Who is all things Loving and Perfectly Pleasing and NOTHING “UNLIKE” this has the ability to exist for that would make God no longer Who He IS. (³I cannot be guilty because I am a Son of God.)
* 4. There was NEVER anything that I needed to be forgiven for because NOTHING ever happened even though I had convinced myself that it is happening even now, and I listen to stories of atrocities next door and around the world. I will continue to “seem to see” these difficulties and want to be compassionate about them but I DO NOT want to see them as real because to do so is to deny the existence of God and myself. (⁴I have already been forgiven.)
* No imagined fear need remain in the mind of the Son of God once he is willing to acknowledge The Father Who Is Love and return to full communion with Him. (⁵God is the Love with which I love myself.)
* I would not attack the Love of God and THAT is all that COULD be REAL. (⁶There is no need to attack because love has forgiven me.)
⁷The practice period should end, however, with a repetition of today’s idea as originally stated.
* “God is the Love in which I forgive.” God IS IS IS the Love in which I forgive as I recognize that only God’s Love ~ gives ~ REALITY to anything at all.
7. The shorter practice periods may consist either of a repetition of the idea for today in the original or in a related form, as you prefer. ²Be sure, however, to make more specific applications if they are needed. ³They will be needed at any time during the day when you become aware of any kind of negative reaction to anyone, present or not. ⁴In that event, tell him silently:
⁵God is the Love in which I forgive you.
* NO. I will say, “The Love of God IS the ONLY thing that could be real and I will not attack it but will deny the reality of ANYTHING that appears to be outside of it EVEN as I have healthy boundaries and compassion (and gentleness) towards what appears to be attack whatever form it presents itself as.”
(ACIM, W-46.1:1–7:5)
Till next time, God bless, debi.
