Journal for Day 46
LESSON 46
God is the Love in which I forgive.
What a remarkable lesson this is! First we are reassured that God does not forgive because God does not condemn. But no matter that; it is His Love that is the basis of all forgiveness. This means that even if I have something difficult to forgive, I can do it because I am not forgiving with my ego self, but with the Love of God, which is always available to me because what is of God is also of me.
I am also told that all forgiveness is forgiveness of self. I have learned to think of it this way; I never forgive the other person, I only forgive my projections onto them. We condemn ourselves with the fear thoughts that we choose to believe, and, seeking relief, we then project those thoughts onto others and see them as guilty.
So when we forgive the other we are really forgiving ourselves and in forgiving we are released from fear and so no longer condemn. “Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.” As we forgive, we are literally undoing the ego and releasing ourselves from he illusion.
I thought I would not be able to find anyone to forgive, but immediately someone I know came into my mind. It is a “small” thing, and by that I mean it is not something that impacts my life in such a way that I think of it much. But if there is unforgiveness of any kind in my heart, I am still bound to the world. So how could I say that it is a small thing or a large thing? This morning, I am eager to forgive.
Regina’s Tip
The human idea of love is typically very different from the love of God. Since our ideas about love can be mistaken, we can also misunderstand a lesson that uses the word ‘love.’ So, let’s take a minute to look at ‘love.’
Love may be best defined as openness. Other words that help us grasp the meaning of love are allowance, non-judgment, non-interference. An example of love is the space in the room where you are sitting now (or the space outside, if you are outside now). If you contemplate the space around you, notice it is open, allowing, non-judgmental, and non-interfering. For example, if two lovers decide to make love in the space around you, the space does not get in the way of that. Its openness naturally allows that. Likewise, if one person violently murders another person in the space around you, the space does not get in the way of that. Its openness is as equally open to murder as it is to making love. The openness of space is so naturally open, it can’t be anything but open. Judgment and interference are impossibilities for the space around you.
God (our true nature) is exactly the same. It is completely open and it cannot be anything but completely open.
Love = openness.
My Thoughts
This was very interesting to me. It is another way altogether to see love. I wondered how I could see my own true nature as openness and Regina talked about that, too. She says that our natural openness is not the mind that judges, rejects and condemns, etc. She says this about our intrinsic openness.
You might notice that your intrinsic openness allows all sounds and all sensations. Notice there is no block to anything in your openness. It is simply openness. If the mind begins to chatter, look to see the openness that allows the chatter. This openness is completely natural for you. It’s an openness you cannot close.
Here is a process she recommends.
Forgiveness is open-allowance-without-clinging. It might look like this:
~ Someone insults me. (Happening)
~ I get angry. (Effect of believing the mind’s judgment of the previous happening.)
~ I see my anger. (Awareness)
~ I remember my purpose. (Heart)
~ I practice Rest – Accept – Trust. (Open-allowance-without-clinging)
~ The temporary event ends as all temporary events do.
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