III. The Correction of Error, P 8
8 The Holy Spirit forgives everything because God created everything. Do not undertake His function, or you will forget yours. Accept only the function of healing in time, because that is what time is for. God gave you the function to create in eternity. You do not need to learn that, but you do need to learn to want it. For that all learning was made. This is the Holy Spirit’s use of an ability that you do not need, but that you made. Give it to Him! You do not understand how to use it. He will teach you how to see yourself without condemnation, by learning how to look on everything without it. Condemnation will then not be real to you, and all your errors will be forgiven.
Journal
Oh my goodness, I feel like I need to contemplate every sentence in this paragraph!
“The Holy Spirit forgives everything because God created everything.” This is the reason I forgive everything. I forgive every person involved in every situation in my life, including me, because what we are is a creation of God. That alone is reason enough to forgive. I feel excited to think about this. How simple this makes forgiveness. Nothing to judge or decide; in every case I forgive because God created it.
‘Do not undertake His function, or you will forget yours.” I am not certain what is meant by this sentence, but here is what comes into my mind. My function is to notice when there is a thought in my mind that needs correction and to desire that correction. I then release it to the Holy Spirit and He heals my mind. So correction, healing, and forgiveness (which are all the same thing) is His function, not mine.
My function is to choose to be healed, to allow the healing, and to accept it. This is what the Course means when it says I am to forgive. If I try to take the Holy Spirit’s job, I will forget mine, which is essential to the process. I want healing, so I will notice if I start to think it is my job to correct either my brother or myself, and I will step back and let myself be reminded of my part.
“Accept only the function of healing in time, because that is what time is for.” Healing is my only function while I am in time. I often become confused about this as I go about my day. I start to think that getting certain tasks completed is my function and I become anxious if it doesn’t look like I am succeeding.
I think that being on time is function, that winning is my function, that dieting, learning to budget my money better, figuring out how to retire; I start to think that these are all very important and for me to do. But healing is the only function I have in time, and so it is my job to notice these wrong minded choices and ask the Holy Spirit to correct my thinking.
“God gave you the function to create in eternity.” The function of healing is only in force while we are in time. It is the necessary substitute for our true function. In eternity, where we exist, our function is creating. Oh my! Look at the phenomenal job we have done in making this upside down world, and now imagine what we can do in our natural state. This thought is a powerful motivation for me to open my mind and heart to this awakening process.
“You do not need to learn that, but you do need to learn to want it. For that all learning was made.” I do not need to learn I am a creator or how to create. I was created a creator and thus this cannot be lost to me. I can however, choose to deny it for the purpose of experience that is different than Reality. Because this was my choice, and because it is time to return to reality, I must learn that I want to do so. That is what it means that my function in time is learning. I am learning that I want to be what I am.
“This is the Holy Spirit’s use of an ability that you do not need, but that you made.” In my natural state there is no function of learning because I already have all Knowledge. What could there be to learn? In the upside down world I made, I must learn everything, because the ego knows nothing. Like everything I made, as I give it to the Holy Spirit for His use, He uses it to teach me that I don’t need it. If it sounds insane, that is because it is insane. But in giving what I made to the Holy Spirit, my sanity is restored along with my memory. Whew!
“Give it to Him! You do not understand how to use it. He will teach you how to see yourself without condemnation, by learning how to look on everything without it. Condemnation will then not be real to you, and all your errors will be forgiven.” I gladly give the Holy Spirit my learning and put Him in charge of it. I give Him my crazy thoughts and my belief that I know what to do with them. He is forgiving it all and healing my mind, and I am learning to see myself without condemnation.
This has been slow going for me because the ego mind really treasures the notion it can and should judge. When I start to feel like the holy and Divine Being that I am, the ego rushes in with memories of all my errors. It insists that they make me guilty and unworthy. The purpose is to reinstall fear in my mind and so keep the ego myth going.
What has made this easier for me is that I now understand that to see myself as innocent, it is necessary that I see all aspects of Self as innocent. I am learning that my brother is innocent no matter what his ego does. I am learning that the world is innocent regardless of appearances. In this understanding, I know that I must also be innocent. It is in this denial of guilt as real that all errors are forgiven and we are restored to our true nature. What judgment could be more important or valuable than this?
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