And do not ever think you can see sin in anyone except yourself.
This is the great deception of the world, and you the great deceiver of yourself. It always seems to be another who is evil, and in his sin you are the injured one. How could freedom be possible if this were so? You would be slave to everyone, for what he does entails your fate, your feelings, your despair or hope, your misery or joy. You have no freedom unless he gives it to you. And being evil, he can only give of what he is. You cannot see his sins and not your own. But you can free him and yourself as well.
Forgiveness, truly given, is the way in which your only hope of freedom lies. Others will make mistakes and so will you, as long as this illusion of a world appears to be your home. Yet God Himself has given all His Sons a remedy for all illusions that they think they see. Christ’s vision does not use your eyes, but you can look through His and learn to see like Him. Mistakes are tiny shadows, quickly gone, that for an instant only seem to hide the face of Christ, which still remains unchanged behind them all. His constancy remains in tranquil silence and in perfect peace. He does not know of shadows. His [are] the eyes that look past error to the Christ in you. (A Course in Miracles, S-2.I.4:8-6:8)
The ego’s scheme to project our guilt on the world outside us keeps us at the mercy of outside forces. What people say and do can make us happy or sad, fearful or angry. Because we cannot control the outside world, we feel powerless to find release from the puppet strings that seem to control our life experience. But we are only subject to this external control as long as we believe we are separate and identify with the ego thought system. This is a choice for self-deception, which maintains our guilt, though it hides it from our awareness.
Christ’s vision is the means through which we can release ourselves from the seeming control of an external world. We need to learn that what the body’s eyes show us is not real and open our minds to Christ’s vision. His Vision sees only the innocence of Love reflected everywhere. Our reliance on the body’s eyes blocks His vision from our awareness.
We are not asked to deny what the body’s eyes seem to show us, but we are asked to bring these perceptions to Christ’s vision. Here we will see that the guilt reflected in our perception is not justified because the perception is not true. Beyond the mistaken perception is the truth of Love, unchanged and unchangeable.
As we practice this process of opening to Christ’s vision, we are less subject to the seeming whims of the ego’s world. Our level of peace increases. We are less reactive and defensive. We more frequently recognize calls for Love and respond with Love. This is the process of forgiveness and the benefit it offers.
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