To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights, we recommend
that you read the corresponding lesson in the Workbook of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
“All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”
There is only one gift to give and that is the gift of the truth. As I am willing to see my brother as he truly is, I receive a blessing. As I open my mind to receive the gift of the truth, I effortlessly and naturally extend it to my brother. This gift I receive and give helps the whole Sonship. The Sonship is one. As I help my own awakening by opening to the truth, I help the whole. We are one.
We have one Father and that one Father will help us return to the awareness of Love’s presence if we allow it. As each one allows it, the whole Sonship benefits. We are simply returning to the awareness that we never really left Heaven. We never really left God’s one Mind of Love. We are still as God created us. “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”
There is only one gift of value and meaning in this world. It is the gift of forgiveness, which is Love’s reflection in the world. In Heaven the only gift is Love, for Love is all there Is. In this world, we believe we are without Love. Thus we need forgiveness, which removes the barriers to the awareness of Love’s eternal presence.
To know the gifts my brother gives and to experience that the gifts I give remain my own, I must let go of cherishing anything other than God’s Love, Which dwells in my brother and in me. If I cherish individuality, I cannot experience the gifts my brother gives. I cannot experience that the gifts I give remain my own. If I want individuality or specialness, then I am denying the oneness of Love. This denial is simply a mistake to be let go.
That is what forgiveness does. It lets go of mistaken beliefs and perceptions and makes way for the truth to shine through. Forgiveness clears the way for the awareness of Love’s presence. In every moment I make the choice between the isolation of specialness and the oneness of Love. I choose either loneliness and lack or completion and unity with my brothers in God’s Love. There are only these two alternatives.
Today I would let past mistakes go and accept the gifts my brothers give in the name of our Father. Today I would forgive and receive Love. Thus do I remember that all gifts I give my brothers are my own.
I spent a lot of years trying to convince myself to forgive. I tried scaring myself with threats of eternal punishment. When I stopped believing in that, I tried using logic on myself. I tried everything to talk myself into letting go of grievances against others, and to give up guilt for what I saw as my own sins.
Now I see that the only thing that works is giving it over to Holy Spirit for healing. Doing that and seeing it work, motivates me to do it again. For the first time in my life I can see that it is possible to forgive and it is not even really hard. As with everything else I give the ego to do, it failed and convinced me that it was just too hard or too complicated. With Spirit I see that it isn’t hard at all, nor is it in any way complicated.
These lessons are slowly but surely coming together for me. I’ve been asking the Holy Spirit to help me see the Oneness in myself and my brothers, to see beyond the body. I also ask Him to help me recognize His gifts; I know in my heart they’re there, I just don’t open myself to see them.
This morning, as I was driving to work, I was watching people in other cars or walking on the street and I tried to see them only as manifestations of the Oneness of Love and in seeing them that way, I was amazed at the various forms and personalities they take. And maybe I haven’t quite gotten to the point where I can completely forgive, but I’m beginning to see them in another light and, for me, this is a miracle.
I believe this is one of the many gifts my Heavenly Father offers me because when I’m not judging my brothers, I am at peace, which is a gift to me and them. Thank you, Holy Spirit.
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