To forgive is merely to remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection.
If all but loving thoughts have been forgotten, what remains is eternal. And the transformed past is made like the present. No longer does the past conflict with now. This continuity extends the present by increasing its reality and its value in your perception of it. In these loving thoughts is the spark of beauty hidden in the ugliness of the unholy relationship where hatred is remembered; yet there to come alive as the relationship is given to Him Who gives it life and beauty. That is why Atonement centers on the past, which is the source of separation, and where it must be undone. For separation must be corrected where it was made. (A Course in Miracles, T-17.III.1:1-3;5:3-9. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)
At the beginning of the Course we are told that only Love is real. Thus in reality only the continuous flow of Love, happiness and peace can be experienced. Yet most of what we experience in the world seems to be anything but Love. Peace seems to be present only in fleeting moments. Happiness does not seem to last. And what we think is love seems to be fragile and easily disturbed.
We don’t experience the changelessness of Love because we cover it over with our projections of grievances from the past. We carry our grievances with us as if they were a treasured prize, yet they weight us down like a bag of lead that seems to keep us anchored in the past.
We return to the presence of Love by letting go of the lead weights of grievances that we thought were so important. Grievances are the ego’s principal tool for maintaining guilt. When we project grievances on another and see guilt in the other, we tighten our grip on our own guilt. It is this guilt that weights us down in a seeming world of separation. As we learn to let go of the past, the gentleness and beauty of present Love come forward in our awareness.
Because of the value we give to our grievances, we do not recognize their destructiveness to our peace of mind. There seems to be no way to forgive the perceived harm that justifies our grievance. This is why we must bring every grievance, every thought of guilt or fear, to the Holy Spirit with willingness to receive His healing Light. The Holy Spirit knows how to undo the past and free us to experience the loving, eternal Present. This is how we make way for the Atonement that is the undoing of the past.
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