ACIM Workbook Lesson 141 – for Saturday, May 21, 2011
Affirmation: “My mind holds only what I think with God.”
Selected Passage:
“Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
“Forgiveness offers everything I want. (WB275)”
Reflections:
The major drawback which ACIM students and teachers may still face is the troubling idea (a falsehood) that there are some “sins” that are beyond forgiveness. We may have been so hurt by the words or actions of another that we feel that these brothers and sisters do not deserve forgiveness. But take a moment to reflect on what this thinking really means. We are actually saying that we have said or done things that were so bad that we do not deserve forgiveness, because what we say of another is always what we have first said about ourselves. When we point a finger at another, three fingers are pointed back at us.
But maya, or illusion, assures us that these “sins” (actually mistakes) never happened in reality. We ourselves are innocent of sin; we have just made mistakes, which we may ask forgiveness for, and then we are healed. We can make amends if we feel prompted to do so (and if it is still feasible). We can commune with God, Who always listens. He will forgive us, regardless of the depth of the mistakes we have made. Let us do the same for our brothers and sisters, lost in insanity.
It may help to realize that this is a mad world. We are all lost in insanity to one degree or another. Even the Awakened are said not to be “perfect,” at least not until Jesus corrects the mistakes that we ourselves did not have the power to correct. If we believe that the difficult actions of our brothers and sisters, the ones that have impacted us negatively, are the result of insanity, we will be much more willing to forgive. We ourselves need this forgiveness as well, and if we withhold it from them, we withhold it from ourselves.
Prayer:
Dear Mother/Father,
May I forgive everyone in my world today for anything that may ever have hurt me. May I keep on forgiving as any new hurts emerge. This is my way to happiness, my key to salvation and to Awakening. Thank You for leading me to know this.
Be with my brothers and sisters, as well as myself, as we walk together through this day. We walk together, hand-in-hand, and when we realize this fully we are well on the way to home.
Amen.
