Lesson 126
- All That I Give Is Given To Myself
- Today’s idea, completely alien
- to the ego and the thinking of the world,
- is crucial to the thought reversal that
- this course will bring about. If you believed
- this statement there would be no problem in
- complete forgiveness, certainty of goal,
- and sure direction. You would understand
- the means by which salvation comes to you
- and would not hesitate to use it now.
- Let us consider what you do believe
- in place of this idea. It seems to you
- that other people are apart from you
- and able to behave in ways which have
- no bearing on your thoughts nor yours on theirs.
- Therefore your attitudes have no effect
- on them and their appeals for help are not
- in any way related to your own.
- You further think that they can sin without
- affecting your perception of your self,
- while you can judge their sin and yet remain
- apart from condemnation and at peace.
- When you forgive a sin, there is no gain
- to you directly. You give charity
- to one unworthy merely to point out
- that you are better, on a higher plane
- than he whom you forgive. He has not earned
- your charitable tolerance, which you
- bestow on one unworthy of the gift.
- Because his sins have lowered him beneath
- a true equality with you, he has
- no claim on your forgiveness; it holds out
- a gift to him, but hardly to yourself.
- Thus is forgiveness basically unsound –
- a charitable whim, benevolent
- yet undeserved, a gift bestowed at times,
- at other times withheld. Unmerited,
- withholding it is just, nor is it fair
- that you should suffer when it is withheld.
- The sin that you forgive is not your own –
- someone apart from you committed it.
- And if you then are gracious unto him
- by giving him what he does not deserve,
- the gift is no more yours than was his sin.
- If this be true, forgiveness has no grounds
- on which to rest dependably and sure.
- It is an eccentricity in which
- you sometimes choose to give indulgently
- an undeserved reprieve, yet it remains
- your right to let the sinner not escape
- the justified repayment for his sin.
- Think you the lord of heaven would allow
- the world’s salvation to depend on this?
- Would not his care for you be small indeed
- if your salvation rested on a whim?
- You do not understand forgiveness. As
- you see it, it is but a check upon
- overt attack, without requiring
- correction in your mind. It cannot give
- you peace as you perceive it; it is not
- a means for your release from what you see
- in someone other than yourself. It’s not
- what god intended it to be for you.
- Not having given him the gift he asks
- of you, you cannot recognize his gifts
- and think he has not given them to you.
- Yet would he ask you for a gift unless
- it was for you? Could he be satisfied
- with empty gestures and evaluate
- such petty gifts as worthy of his son?
- Salvation is a better gift than this,
- and true forgiveness, as the means by which
- it is attained, must heal the mind that gives,
- for giving is receiving. What remains
- as unreceived has not been given, but
- what has been given must have been received.
- Today we try to understand the truth
- that giver and receiver are the same.
- You will need help to make this meaningful
- because it is so alien to the thoughts
- to which you are accustomed, but the help
- you need is there. Give him your faith today
- and ask him that he share your practicing
- in truth today, and if you only catch
- a tiny glimpse of the release that lies
- in the idea we practice for today,
- this is a day of glory for the world.
- Give fifteen minutes twice today to the
- attempt to understand today’s idea.
- It is the thought by which forgiveness takes
- its proper place in your priorities.
- It is the thought that will release your mind
- from every bar to what forgiveness means
- and let you realize its worth to you.
- In silence, close your eyes upon the world
- that does not understand forgiveness and
- seek sanctuary in the quiet place
- where thoughts are changed and false beliefs laid by.
- Repeat today’s idea and ask for help
- in understanding what it really means.
- Be willing to be taught. Be glad to hear
- the voice of truth and healing speak to you
- and you will understand the words he speaks
- and recognize he speaks your words to you.
- As often as you can remind yourself
- you have a goal today, an aim which makes
- this day of special value to yourself
- and all your brothers. Do not let your mind
- forget this goal for long, but tell yourself,
- “All that I give is given to myself.
- The help I need to learn that this is true
- is with me now, and I will trust in him.”
- Then spend a quiet moment opening
- your mind to his correction and his love,
- and what you hear of him you will believe,
- for what he gives will be received by you.
