Lesson #62
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
“Forgiveness” is one of those vague words like “truth,” “beauty”, “honor” that sound good but when you try to unpack the meaning of the word we seem to be left with little that is satisfying and fulfilling.
Forgiveness as defined in A Course of Miracles as the willingness to give up making other people and circumstances responsible for our unhappiness. Forgiveness is to be willing to no longer play the victim and to rise above whatever is fearful, frustrating, annoying, hurtful. Jesus says, as the Romans are killing Him, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” That takes a big person. Talk about rising above attack. Wow! I wish I could be that big a person,
In Alcoholics Anonymous we are asked in step four to do a fearless moral inventory and admit to God, ourselves, and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. We are ready to give these wrongs up to the Transcendent Power of the Universe by making amends where it would do no further harm. This is self forgiveness which for some people can be the hardest kind of forgiveness of all. Once we forgive ourselves, we then find forgiveness a more readily available response to others.
In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. The path to the achievement of this goal is forgiveness. In forgiving ourselves and others, these acts of compassion restore the equity and sense of justice that we seek. The justice, of course, is not of this ego world, but in the world of the soul where the interdependent web of existence is experienced and loved.
Today, take five minutes at the beginning of the day and at the end, and as many times as the thought arises throughout the day and say to yourself with reverence and awe, “Forgiveness is my function in the light of the world.”
My kind of church music
Don't Give Up by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush
No comments:
Post a Comment