A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #64, Let me not forget my function.

 Lesson #64

Let me not forget my function.

This lesson, #64, is as straightforward a statement of the purpose of our lives as there can be. It is very simple: to forgive. Forgiveness is being willing to give up making other people and circumstances responsible for my unhappiness. When we think that things on the path of the ego are responsible for our unhappiness we are sorely mistaken. It is our decision to make it so that is the source of our unhappiness. We have chosen to play the victim. God’s sons and daughters cannot be victims. We are loved unconditionally. When we make this mistake of blaming others, we give our power away. The ego has tempted us to blame, to accuse, to try to make guilty, and it creates a hell. The saying is “You can either laugh or cry.” It is better to laugh, rise above, and forget the blaming and accusations, and take responsibility for our own peace of mind.

In Alcoholics Anonymous we are encouraged through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God, praying for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out. In the words of A Course In Miracles that is our function and it is manifested in forgiveness of the opposite when we have succumbed to the temptations of the ego.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles and the application of these principles require us to perform our function which is forgiveness for the times we have pursued the idols of the ego rather than the things of the Spirit. It is this covenant and the practice of the principles which UUs believe is their function and if this function were boiled down to one word it would be forgiveness. Forgiveness for the mistakes we have made pursuing the things of the ego rather than the things of the soul which first and foremost is articulated in the first principle which is the affirmation and promotion of the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Today we are asked to start the day with a 10 - 15 minute review of our experience carrying out our function of forgiveness and then many times during the day to remind ourselves especially if we find ourselves experiencing anger, resentment, fear, and guilt that forgiveness is our function.